The Heir 2: Destiny
by LeannaPotter2.0
Summary: Sequel to The Heir. Sarah's been missing for 5 years, Jareth is depressed. Sarah reappears on Jareth's doorstep beaten, on the verge of death, with no memory of where she's been. Leanna and JJ have a secret. Oh, and someone's out for revenge
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**One Week After Sarah Left**

_"I'll see you at the wedding, then?", Sarah asked her littler brother._

_"Duh. Like I'm gonna miss my own sister's wedding.", Toby replied, grinning. "Now, go! And tell Leanna Happy Belated Birthday from me."_

_"I will." Sarah grinned and touched the crystal._

_Sarah was almost immediately transported to somewhere that was definitely not the Castle beyond the Goblin City, or the labyrinth, or even anywhere near the labyrinth, for that matter. The sky was pitch black with no stars or moon. The only thing that allowed her to see was the hundred of small fires scattered about for as far as she could see. The few trees she saw were black and gnarled, and the grass was dead. In the distant, she saw a huge silouette of a large, forbidding castle._

_"Well, well.", said a voice behind her. "It's about time." the voice was smooth and silky, though not pleasantly so, like Jareth's. This voice reminded her of a snake, cold and filled with malice. She whirled around and saw a man who definitely matched his voice. He was tall, pale, dress all in black, and completely bald. He was very pale. His nose was nothing but two slits in the middle of his face, and his eyes were as well, which were slightly glowing red. Snake, indeed._

_"What do you want?", she hissed at the man._

_"Revenge.", he growled in reply, and Sarah's world went blank, and she knew no more._

**One Year After Sarah Left**

_Jareth paced his study. Leanna and JJ were sitting there, watching, their heads moving from side to side in unison. Today was Leanna's seventeenth birthday, and Sarah wasn't here for it. Leanna tried not to show it, but Jareth knew she was sad and angry. Sarah had never missed one of her daughter's birthdays. Jareth knew just how she felt._

_"Dad, it'll be okay.", Leanna said. "She'll come back soon."_

_Jareth just couldn't help but wonder how she could make that promise when she looked so worried herself..._

**Two Years After Sarah Left**

_Leanna glared into her crystal ball and shouted for the millionth time, "Show me my mother, Sarahy Williams!" Just like the other million time, the crystal didn't respond. She could feel her mother's fear, though, so Leanna knew Sarah was alive. It was so faint, though, that she could almost believe what everyone said about it being her imagination. But she knew better._

_"Please come to bed, love.", JJ said. he was already in bed, watching her with something dangerously close to pity in his eyes._

_"She's alive JJ. I know it.", Leanna whispered._

_JJ came to sit beside her at the piano. "I believe you, love.", he whispered sincerely. "But you're going to kill yourself if you keep going like this."_

_Leanna sighed. He was right of course, but that didn't mean she like it. Not that she didn't like sleeping with him. His prescence was comfortable, and it drove away the darkness and the nightmares about creepy seventh grade gym teachers kidpnapping her mother. But she didn't want to give up on her mother, and she told JJ as much._

_"I'll help you as much as you want tomorrow. But sleep now.", JJ told her._

_Leann nodded reluctantly and took off the ring her dad had given her for her eighteenth birthday just a week ago. She poured as much energy and power into it that she could without killing herself. One of these days, the ring would probably save someone's life. JJ took off his own similar ring that he'd gotten from Jareth several years ago and did the same things. This had been their nightly ritual for the past week._

_Before the finally went to bed, Leanna walked over to the window and looked out at the red tinted stars and whispered, "Goodnight, Mom. I love you."_

**Five Years After Sarah Left-Present Time**

Leanna marched into Jareth's study with JJ in tow. Jareth looked up in surprise. "What?", he asked irritably. He'd been in the middle of a rather important letter.

Leanna hesitated. For the past four years, she had stopped herself from doing this. It was a touchy subject with her father. The whole point of bringing JJ along was for extra support. But he hadn't spoken about her all year. So, she took a deep breath and said, "Happy Anniversary, Dad."

Leanna realized it had been a very bad idea indeed when his eyes got sad and he went back to his letter, ignoring them completely. Leanna knew what would happen. He'd avoid the both of them for about two weeks, then he'd try to talk to her, and he'd get sad again, or sadder, actually. Then he'd disappear for another two weeks.

That was why Leanna was surprised when Jareth suddenly stood up and hugged his daughter so tight, she could barely breath. Instead of complaining, Leanna took as a good sign and hugged him back just as tight.

JJ conjured a glass of wine and handed it to Jareth. Jareth took a sip, then sat down on the couch with a sigh.

"Gods, I miss your mother so much.", he said.

"Me, too, Dad. But she's alive, I know it."

Jareth smiled sadly. "I know you do, love. I know." He turned his attention to his archmage. "Are you still sleeping with my daughter?"

Leanna choked on the wine she'd conjured for herself. "What kind of question is that?", she spluttered.

Jareth grinned, pleased and amused at her reaction. "Does this mean I can expect wedding bells and grandchildren soon?"

JJ fell off of Jareth's desk, where he'd been sitting, and Leanna dropped her glass.

Leanna glared at Jareth and growled, "You've still got Mom on the brain." She instantly regretted it because he took a sudden interest in his glass of wine. "Dad...", she sighed, then smiled a little painfully. "Well, while you contemplate the wonders of your wine, " there was a loud chime thoughout the castle, "and answer the door, me and JJ will... go to the library."

"More like we'll give you something to get that bloody alcohol out of your system.", JJ muttered.

"It wasn't even that much.", Leanna hissed back.

"What?", Jareth asked.

"Nothing.", they both answered in unison, and JJ ushered Leanna out of the door, closing it behind them.

Jareth sighed. Now he was hearing things. Perhaps he'd been imagining the doorbell, too. No, he supposed not, since Leanna had practically _told_ him to get. He shouldn't get it because of that, but he left his study to do so.

Jareth braced himself against the huge doors and pushed. He could've opened them easily with a wave of his hand, but at the moment, he welcomed the physical labor. When he got the door open, no one was there. There was a large bundle wrapped in a dirty silk blanket. Jareth really hoped it wasn't more fiery body parts.

Jareth squatted down, pulled back part of the cloth, and caught his breath. He touched the bruised, cut face of the beautiful woman lying before him. He knew that face.

"Sarah.", he whispered, and he picked her up gently. "Leanna! JJ! Come here this instant!"

Jareth walked as quickly as he dared without jostling Sarah overmuch. If the rest of her was as bad as her face, she was in trouble.

"What have we done now?", Leanna asked as she met him at the door of his bedroom with JJ. Then her eyes fell on her mother and they widened. "Mom?", she whispered.

Jareth nodded. "Now open the door." Leanna did so without hesitation. Jareth laid Sarah gently on the bed and looked at the other two. "We've got to heal her."

"But we don't have that kind of strength.", JJ replied.

Leanna was silent for a few moments. "Yes, we do.", she said finally. She pulled out the ring. JJ grinned and pulled out his own.

Jareth sighed and took out one that was similar to theirs. "Seems you two pick up more than just my _bad_ habits." He placed the ring on his right index finger, followed by the other two. They all sat beside the bed and began one of the most difficult and powerful spells of healing."

I'm ba-ack! Did you miss me? I know I missed all of you! This is a sort of preview for what's to come. Not sure when I'm going to get Chapter 1 up. Anyway, I want to thank you for all the wonderful reviews you all gave me for the first _The Heir_, and I hope you guys enjoy this one as well.

Jareth: Well, I'm not! This is a most dissatisfying beginning!

Lp: Why?

Jareth: Because I'm showing *shudders* emotion.

Lp: But you love Sarah and Leanna and JJ.

Jareth: Doesn't mean I have to show it!

Lp: Hey, Jareth, do you remember this? *pulls out tranquilizer gun* I owe this idea to Celestialdome.

Jareth: *runs away screaming like a girl*

Lp: *shakes head*


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sarah didn't dare open her eyes, fearing it had been a dream. She'd dreamt Jareth was there, and Leanna and JJ. She'd dreamt Jareth had picked her up and laid her down on what could only be a bed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept on a bed, but then again, she couldn't remember much of anything. And surely, _surely_, she had dreamt that Jareth, Leanna, and JJ had combined their powers to heal her. At least, she thought that's what they'd done. Or she thought that's what she _dreamed_ they'd done.

But then, why did she still feel like she was lying in a bed? And why didn't she hurt near as bad as she had? Or thought she had? Damn. Her thoughts were all muddled.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, and gasped. The room was painted gold, entirely gold. The bed was gold, the walls, the books, everything. The early morning sunlight that streamed in lit up the room so that it seemed to glow with its own magic.

"Do you like it?", asked a smooth voice somewhere to her right. "_I'll paint you mornings of gold._"

With great difficulty and much wincing, Sarah turned her head, and she smiled. "Jareth.", she gasped.

"Shh.", he said, coming over to sit beside her on the bed. "Don't speak. The spell is not yet complete. You are not fully healed. You must save your strength."

Sarah struggled to make sense of his words. "Jareth?", she said a little tentatively.

"Yes, precious?"

"I love you." And she fell asleep smiling at the relieved and overjoyed look on his face as she said those words.

* * *

After Sarah went back to sleep, Jareth walked around the bed and looked at the two sleeping on the floor. He shook his head, smiling. Even in their sleep, they were still weaving the spell. They had both become very powerful over the last few years.

He squatted down and shook Leanna. Leanna batted at the hand and moaned, "Five more minutes, JJ."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "JJ?", he asked.

Leanna cracked open an eye and looked up at him. She sighed. "What do you want?"

"Your mother woke up. She went back to sleep, though."

Leanna groaned and stood up. After kicking JJ awake, she sat beside her mother and took her hand. "Mum, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?" She looked up at Jareth. "Do you think I did the spell wrong? The spell on the crystal that should've brought her back?"

Jareth hugged her, despite her protests, and whispered, "Don't you dare blame yourself."

"But it is my fault. Dad, you don't know what I did."

Jareth pulled back. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I kind of... found the spell."

"You found it?", JJ asked.

"I didn't exactly know what the words were. I was looking in the library, and there it was, floating above the desk, a red orb of energy. I thought maybe you had left it for me. Obviously not."

JJ stood. "I will investigate. The spell must've been tampered with somehow."

Jareth tried not to think about what that might mean. "Yes. Yes, of course. Leanna, it wasn't your fault, all right? Everyone makes mistakes. Even your mother. At first glance, she seems perfect, but even she makes mistakes."

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Yes, and making you my father was one of them."

Jareth grinned. "There. You see? You catch on quick."

Leanna looked at her mother. "I don't know how the hell you're going to put up with him for the next few hundred years."

"Now, Leanna, don't get ahead of yourself. It may only be for the next few days."

Leanna shot him a sharp look. "Don't you blame yourself, either, Dad. She loves you."

"So she said before she fell asleep. But she could've been delusional. You never know."

"_I_ know. Sarah Williams doesn't get _delusional_."

Jareth smiled sadly. "Leanna, do you ever feel like you deserve better than JJ?"

Leanna snorted. "Of course."

"See. There. That's probably what Sarah thinks as well."

"You didn't let me finish. Sometimes I feel like I deserve better, but that's only when he's completely ignoring me because of his spells. Later on, after several glasses wine and a very bad headache, I remember that he really loves me and that he doesn't ignore me because he wants to. And he always makes it up to me."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"None of your damn business.", Leanna replied firmly. Jareth simply laughed.

Jareth looked at Sarah again before deciding to change the subject. "Leanna, I got a letter for you yesterday."

"Hm. Really? Well, who wants to borrow money now?", Leanna asked.

"Actually, it was an invitation. To a finishing school."

Leanna burst out laughing. "Oh, Dad! Can you seriously see me at a finishing school?"

"Haven't you heard of Lismor Academy?"

Leanna's eyes widened. "Dad... You mean _the_ Lismor Academy?"

Jareth nodded, grinning. "I thought you'd like that. They teach certain princes and princesses the less courtly side of ruling a kingdom. They teach stuff that even _I_ can't teach you."

Leanna looked at him skeptically. "But what about Mom? And the wedding? Surely we didn't have everything fixed up just so I can't be there."

Jareth shook his head. "Lismor is a magic sink, it's true. But once you get outside the gates, you can perform a transportation spell easily." But Leanna still looked troubled. "Leanna, what is it?"

"Well-"

But she was saved from answering when Sarah stirred. "Leanna?", she asked in a weak voice.

Leanna took her mother's hand. "I'm here, Mom.", she said. "Don't speak, all right?"

"Where's Jareth?"

Leanna shook her head and grinned. "I should've known."

Jareth glared at her for a moment before walking around to sit on the other side of the bed. "I'm here, love."

"Jareth. Jareth.", Sarah whispered.

"What is it, love?"

"Nothing. I just like saying your name."

Leanna snorted. "I'll bet you do."

Jareth glared at her again. "This is no time for jokes."

Leanna rolled her eyes. "As if you're not completely thrilled when she says your name over and over again."

"Well, she said your name first."

"Please, you two.", Sarah whispered. "I'm too sleepy to play peacemaker today."

"Sorry.", Leanna and Jareth said in unison. There was a long stretch of silence.

"Mom, Dad's been really depressed without you.", Leanna informed her mother.

"Me?", Jareth asked incredulously. "You're the one driving yourself to exhaustion, trying to see her in crystal balls."

"How'd you know about that?" His silence said everything. "I'm going to kill my bloody boyfriend." She stopped. "Um, Mom, Dad? There's, uh, something I got to tell you guys."

"What?", they asked in unison, though one voice was slightly weaker than the other.

"Uh, well. Me and JJ aren't certain yet. We wanted to tell you before we ran any major tests. But, um... I'm ten days late."

"Late for what?", Jareth asked boredly.

Sarah gasped. "Leanna.", she whispered. It hurt her to waste that breath.

Leanna laughed nervously. "Yeah. She gets it."

"How come she does and I don't?", Jareth asked.

"Because she's a girl.", Leanna answered.

"What's that got... to..." Jareth trailed off, thought for a moment, then paled. He looked at Leanna in shock.

"Now Dad gets it too."

Jareth stood up. "_I'm_ going to kill your bloody boyfriend."

* * *

At dinner that night, Jareth, Leanna, and JJ were eating. Well, JJ and Leanna were eating. Jareth was glaring at the two of them. Finally, after a half an hour, Leanna burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?", JJ asked.

"Jareth is trying and failing to act like an angry, overprotective father.", Leanna answered. "He knows just as well as I do that he couldn't do anything to you even if he wanted to."

Jareth looked at them in surprise. "What? Oh, no. I'm not angry at either of you. I was just thinking about Lismor Academy."

"Why?", Leanna asked.

"Well, it is a magic sink. I was hoping that we could go there right now. Our powers would be useless, I'd lock JJ in a dungeon, and keep water from him. Or perhaps I'd rack him. Burn him, toss him into a pit full of snakes."

"Or carnivorous squirrels.", JJ pointed out, grinning.

"Dad, how is Mom doing?", Leanna asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Jareth smiled. "Much better. She should be good as new by tomorrow morning. We should be finished with this spell by then."

Leanna frowned. "Dad, how does she feel about...." She trailed off as she stared out of the window at the red-tinted stars. She shook her head, then turned around. "Mother, go back to bed!"

Jareth looked. The door creaked open and Sarah looked in. "_I_ am the mother here, I believe."

"Yes, well, it's Opposite Day. Go to your room, young lady.", Leanna retorted.

"It had better not be Opposite Day. I don't think I could take Sarah having JJ's kid.", Jareth said.

Leanna shook her head. "Ignore Father, Mother. He hasn't eaten much for the past five years, and he gets cranky when he's hungry."

"I ate."

"Dad, you didn't eat. You nibbled."

"I did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too.", JJ broke in. "Now, I think Sarah and Leanna should go to bed. Sarah, so she can heal faster. Leanna, so there's no bloodshed."

Leanna glared at him. "I AM NOT GOING TO KILL MY OWN FATHER, DAMN IT!!"

JJ looked at her in surprise. "Leanna, it was a joke."

"You know, I think JJ's right, Leanna.", Sarah said. "You really should go to bed."

Leanna glared at them all and stalked out of the room.

"Leanna!", JJ called, following her.

"Well.", Jareth sighed. "That was interesting."

"It's going to get more interesting.", Sarah replied.

"Come on, love. You really should get back to bed."

Jareth walked with her to the bedroom and helped her get in the bed.

"Sarah?", he whispered before blowing at the candle.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

Sarah smiled. "I love you, too, Jareth." And she soon fell asleep.

* * *

And here is chapter one. Not the best, I don't think, but the person that kidnapped Sarah is revealed in the next chapter, I think. Once again, I don't know how long the next chapter will take, but it will be up. I've got all summer.

Leanna: Wait a second! I'm-

Jareth: Wait a second! My daughter's-

JJ: Wait a second! We-

Lp: Ooooh, a double wedding! That is the most awesome idea! Thanks guys

Leanna: .....

JJ: .....

Jareth: I take it back. I'm _not_ going to kill the bloody boyfriend. *lunges for Lp*

Lp: *disappears until Chapter 2*


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth, Airplane!, Trickster's Choice, Trickster's Queen, The Nine Kingdoms Series (which can be found in the adult Sci-fi/Fantasy corner of a bookstore), or the computer game Dead Reefs. I only own my original characters, an even they control me sometimes. It's really weird...**

**Chapter 2**

JJ walked into Jareth's study, waving a vial triumphantly in the air. "I've done it!", he shouted.

"Aye, you have.", Jareth agreed irritably. "You've successfully succeeded in annoying me by interrupting me in the middle of a letter."

"Sorry. But I've got a solution. That is, if you still want Leanna to go to Lismor Academy." JJ looked at him.

"Well, I did. But that was before you decided to knock her up.", Jareth replied. He sighed. "What does this lovely little clear liquid of yours do?"

"It... hides her.", he said.

"Well, that explains everything.", Jareth said sarcastically.

JJ glared at him for a moment. "The baby still grows, but it hides it. It also helps so that the side-effects aren't as frequent. Or as bad as they are now."

It was true. Every morning for the past two weeks could find Leanna throwing up. She had destroyed exactly six rooms, half the gardens, innumerable wine glasses, thrown things that Jareth didn't even know he'd had in his castle, and had so many breakdowns, Jareth and JJ thought that they themselves would breakdown soon as well. The strange things was, Sarah was never around when these strange phenomena would occur.

Like the what was about to happen now.

Leanna walked into Jareth's study, sobbing as she held something in her hand.

JJ was the first to respond. "What's wrong, love?", he asked softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She looked up at him with watery eyes, then opened up her hands. Inside was a tiny squashed ladybug. "I killed it, JJ. I took an innocent life. She didn't do anything, but I stepped on her."

JJ kissed her head. "Aw, love. Don't think like that. Think of this way. She's in a better place now. How about this? We'll go to the garden and bury her."

Leanna gave him a watery smile. "Okay. And will you say a few words?"

JJ nodded. "Of course, love." As they walked out, JJ threw Jareth a desperate look that clearly said _"Help Me!"_. Jareth simply hid his grin behind his hand and shook his head.

Sarah entered not long after. "Leanna and JJ were giving what I think was a ladybug a funeral out in the garden."

Jareth chuckled. "You don't want to know."

Sarah giggled and sat on his desk. "What are you reading?", she asked.

"I'm re-reading a letter from Lismor Academy. You remember, I told you about that?" Sarah nodded. "Well, the Headmistress is a very good friend of mine."

"How good?", Sarah asked. "She's not one of your 328, is she?"

"Wha- Oh, er, no. Good gods, no. No. About 300 years ago, her husband died, and she hasn't quite gotten over it."

"That's a long time to hold on to something like that."

"Yes, well, just like seventeen years feels like a lifetime. Or five years, come to think of it."

Sarah spun him in his chair and looked him straight in the eye. "Jareth, I tried to come back, but it sent me somewhere different. I wanted to come back. I love you, damn it."

Jareth sighed. "Aye, I know. I'm just... This whole thing with Leanna and you... For the first time in my life, I am stressed. Except for when I'm trying to live up to your expectations." He smirked. "You really have no idea what I was talking about when I told you you exhausted me." He simply grinned when she glared at him, then he sobered quickly. "But this time, I am truly stretched."

"Jareth, what can I do to help?"

He grinned. "I can think of several things, actually."

"Can you, indeed?"

"Oh, indeed." He kissed her for quite a while. When he finally pulled away, Sarah had to sit down in a chair, lest she fall on the floor due to the sudden weakness in her knees.

Someone cleared their throat at the door, and they both looked up. "I came to see if it was true that your lady was back. I guess I got more than I bargained for.", King Nicholas said.

Jareth stood up, grinning. "Nick. How are you?", he asked.

"Good. The dwarves are on my tail about the silver mines that are on the borders of our two lands, but other than that, I got no complaints." Nicholas looked at Jareth closely for a moment. "You sure you're all right, man? You know, nobody's seen you in five yea-"

"Okay, Nick, what was it you wanted to see me about?", Jareth asked quickly.

"Your daughter, actually. I'm sending my own wee lass to Lismor's. Since I don't trust nobody but Roland, you, and your family, I wanted to ask whether or not Leanna would be interested in looking after her."

Jareth's expression turned to surprised. "You have a daughter?"

"Oh, aye. And a wife. Good gods, Jareth. You really did shut yourself away from the world ever since-"

"I don't want to talk about that. Leanna's in the gardens if you wish to speak with her. Mind you, she'll probably ask you to say a few words to the ladybug as well." When Nick gave him a strange look, Jareth shook his head. "Don't ask."

King Nicholas shrugged, and when he turned around, Sarah gasped. She saw something she'd never noticed before. His ears were _pointed_.

"Jareth, is he an elf?", Sarah asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Half-elf, actually. I don't know much of anything about elven politics, so don't ask me how that came about. But he's the king of the elves. Amarantha's full of the buggers. I don't like elves much."

"Why not?"

"Most of them are too polite, got too many manners. There's not one time I went over there that I saw any elf do something that was less than cordial. The half-elves aren't that bad, which is why I like King Nicholas."

"Jareth?"

"Aye, love?"

"Is there a kingdom of dwarves, too?"

"Aye. That's King Orius' kingdom, Aranna. Not a bad bloke, but elves are very dodgy sometimes. Much like Hoggle, actually. They have an eye for shiny things and good weapons and good jewelry. Dwarves are very useful." He looked up at Sarah. "Heehaw doesn't know much about that stuff because he's lived here all his life."

"It's Hoggle, Jareth.", Sarah corrected.

"Yes, him."

When Sarah, much to Jareth's disappointment, decided to leave, Jareth walked over to the window and looked out over his labyrinth, and whispered, "Where were you? Where in the bloody Nine Kingdoms were you?" He sighed and walked out of the room.

* * *

Leanna sat in the library, reading a book on war tactics. The knees of her pants were still dirty from being in the garden, giving that poor ladybug a funeral. JJ had had some very heartfelt things to say.

She looked up in surprise as King Nicholas entered.

"I've been looking for you everywhere girl.", he huffed. "Your father said you were in the gardens." He looked at her dirty pants. "Obviously, he wasn't lying. But when you weren't there, and nowhere around, I was tempted to send a search party."

"I can't get lost, King Nicholas.", Leanna replied matter-of-factly. "How is your wife? And little Alianne?"

"They're both doing well. Actually, I was considering sending her to Lismor."

"Lismor? But she's only, what, four, isn't she? Barely able to talk and walk."

"Nobody at my castle has decent enough sword skill to teach her, and I don't believe I'll be able to. I wanted you to go with her, see she'll be okay. Will you do it?"

Leanna considered what JJ had told her about his new brew. He said it worked, and he'd never been wrong before. "I'll talk to my dad about it.", she answered. "But why me?"

"Because I don't trust anyone else to do it.", he replied.

Leanna felt her eyes tearing up, and before she knew it, she was sobbing.

"Jareth!', she heard Nicholas yell distantly.

There were running footsteps, several curses, and someone's arms suddenly around her shoulders.

"It's all right, love.", she heard her father whisper. "What happened?"

"He... He said he trusted me.", Leanna whispered back.

She heard what sounded like barely restrained laughter, then Jareth replied, "It's all right."

Leanna wiped her face on her sleeve, then looked up at her father and smiled. "Hello, Daddy."

"Come on, Leanna.", he told her. "You should go lie down."

Leanna nodded. "I've been feeling a little tired. That poor little ladybug took all the strength out of me." And she walked out of the room.

Nicholas looked at Jareth, then burst out laughing. "What was that all about?", he wheezed.

Jareth chuckled. "She's been very emotional lately.", he answered.

"Aye, I'll say." He rubbed his hand over his face, and he suddenly looked very old. "Jareth, I'm worried about something."

"What is it?", Jareth asked.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell you, but... There's been some recent activity from Wyndham."

Jareth looked at his old friend in shock. "What?"

"I sent scouts out to look. I sent a party of 10 elves out. Only one came back, and he died a week later. He said there were creatures there like he'd never seen before. Said they just wasn't human. Or elf or dwarf, for that matter. " Nicholas shuddered. "I don't want to think about what he's doing. You don't think he's doing what his grandfather did all those years ago."

"Well, what with him taking over the tenth kingdom, before I was born, mind you, and then trying to take over my kingdom 200 years ago, I'd say he's probably planning something of the like. Hell, I don't even know what the bloody kingdom used to be called. And I only know _of_ his grandfather."

"Neroche. It was called Neroche. My granddaughter was queen of it. She disappeared the day Wydham took over. Rumor has it he slew everyone save the king, who he still has locked up."

Jareth shook his head. "Surely, someone would've known."

This time, Nicholas shook his head. "Now, you know the tenth kingdom is too far away for anyone to sense anything inside that place. Even your daughter wouldn't be able the feel any fear from the place, even though it positively radiates it, or so said that poor lad what died. If the girl could, it'd be very faint. And don't call me 'Shirley'... Jareth?"

Jareth had stared off out of the windows, thinking. Leanna had said she felt her mother's fear, but that it was very faint. Was it possible that Wyndham had done something? But no, how could he have gotten into the castle and planted that spell without Jareth noticing?

"Jareth!", Nicholas shouted in Jareth's ear.

Jareth jumped. "What?", he asked irritably.

"You were muttering and paying me no attention."

"I was just thinking... No, it's nothing." Jareth thought for a moment. "Nicholas, what was the king and queen's name?"

"King Mochriademiach and Queen Morghain." He sighed. "Before you were even born, I had many children. Most were lost in the first battle with Wyndham. One died some years later after being in a coma. My first wife died some ten years before you were born."

You never told me any of that.", Jareth said in surprise, shaking his head. "Good gods, man, how old _are_ you?"

Nicholas grinned, somewhat pained. "Old enough to consider you a boy, Jareth."

Jareth chuckled. "Aye, obviously. Will wonders never cease?"

"Well, I suppose death is the last surprise for us all, Goblin King." The man chuckled. There was a flash of bright light and the king of the elves was gone, leaving Jareth with more questions than he'd started out with.

* * *

Okay, so, I'm not totally in the swing of this story yet, which is why it isn't exactly top form yet. It'll get better, though, once I've got a feel for it. More will be explained about the history and stuff, but apparently, I have quite a knack for twisting plots and mystery, so just keep reading, and things will be explained... mostly. There is actually quite a bit of reference to The Nine Kingdoms Series, but it's not a crossover, per se. You don't have to have read the books to understand this story. But I got a lot of name and just the slightest bit of the story lin from the Nine Kingdoms Series. Oh, and I suppose I don't have to remind you tell me if you hated it or if you liked it.

Jareth: *eyes Lp suspiciously for weapons* Where's that bloody gun of yours?

Lp: *hides _something_ behind her back and whistles* Oh, I must've misplaced it...


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Don't yell at me, Mother. I am doing my best. I've never exactly been the best artist.", Leanna complained to Sarah.

"Leanna, it would be so much easier if you were to just put the image in a crystal.", Jareth pointed out for the tenth time.

"I know that, Dad. But I don't _feel_ like it."

"Well, then I could do it."

"No, you're going to need your strength to actually make the bloody thing." She stopped, then glared at him. "You've seen it. Why don't you just make it now?"

Jareth opened his mouth then shut it. Why hadn't he thought of that?

Sarah rolled her eyes. "All of this could've been prevented. You've been working on this for five years, and you didn't think to make the dress. I just don't believe it."

"Hey, Jareth, the lads need your decision on the-", JJ started as he walked into Jareth's study then caught the annoyed look on their faces. "Ah. It's one of those days, is it? Family matters? I'm going to go now." He started to back out of the study.

"No, you're not!", Leanna snapped, throwing down her pencil.

JJ rubbed his neck. "Of course, love. I'll stay if you want me to."

Leanna looked at him for a few moments before groaning. "I'm sorry, JJ. You've done so much for me already... Go on, go on. Tend to your spells, or whatever you do in that bloody tower of yours."

"If you want me to."

"JJ, do whatever it is you want to do, okay? Right now. Do whatever it is _you_ want to do."

JJ nodded, walked over to her, and kissed her.

Leanna gasped as she pulled away. "I was not expecting that."

"Yes, now get out.", Jareth snapped. JJ bowed, smirked, and left. Jareth grumbled something about "bloody archmages" and set to work on his spell. While he was busy with that, Sarah turned to Leanna.

"Do you really think it's appropriate? You know, instead of white?", she asked her daughter.

"Usually, white symbolizes purity. Since I'm around, I don't think _white_ would be appropriate.", Leanna answered.

"Besides, this really matches her eyes.", Jareth put in, holding out a familiar dress. It was a long, green gown with gold leaves and vines embroidered on it.

"Well, then I suppose you'll be wearing a blue and brown tux.", Leanna said. (A/N Or is it blue and hazel? I really can't tell.)

"No. I don't wear tuxedos. Bloody monkey suits. Besides, guys don't wear stuff to match their eyes."

Leanna snorted. "You do. Quite frequently. I don't suppose I have to remind you when Grandfather sent Grandmother over and she thought you were her daughter."

Sarah giggled.

Jareth glared. "She was sick and half-delusional. She also said your head was too big for the rest of you."

"She never said that!"

"Maybe not in front of you."

Leanna picked up the pencil and threw it at him. It missed Jareth by a hair, and Leanna cursed.

"Stop fighting, the both of you.", Sarah chided.

"Yes, ma'am.", Jareth said, looking down and smirking.

"Don't smirk at me, Jareth."

Jareth looked up, grinning. He suddenly noticed her eyes were twinkling with barely withheld mirth. "Go on. Have a laugh. No one's stopping you.", he told her. And she did just that, laughing until she could barely breath.

Leanna rolled her eyes, then looked at her mother. "I really don't know how you're going to stand him for the next few hundred years.", she said, shaking her head and smiling.

Sarah looked at her daughter. "You don't seemed concerned with being immortal."

Leanna shrugged. "I'll never be bored, at least. If I was someone living out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, I wouldn't be happy with immortality." She grinned. "I think I fit the role very well."

Jareth grunted. "Unfortunately for us, yes, immortality suits her quite well."

Leanna grinned. "Unfortunately for you, you mean." She thought for a moment. "How do you turn a human into a Fae?"

"A Fae has to marry the human, go through the _entire_ ceremony, and then consummate the marriage."

"Ah." Leanna looked a bit uncomfortable at the moment.

"What is a Fae's marriage ceremony?", Sarah asked.

"Well... You see, if both parties were Fae, it wouldn't matter. They could choose to go through with the Blood Ceremony or not. But if you're a human wanting to be turned into a Fae, you have to go through with the ceremony."

"What's the Blood Ceremony?", Sarah asked. Jareth explained, and Sarah paled slightly. "Oh.", she said simply.

"Mm. You can see why I was reluctant to tell you at first."

"Why? Did you think I wouldn't marry you because of it?" Jareth hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "Oh, damn you, Jareth. When are you going to get it through your thick head that I love you?" She shook her head and walked out.

Jareth looked at Leanna, but she held her hands up. "Don't look at me. She's got a point.", she told him, and she disappeared. Jareth cursed women in general, wondering why they had to be so damned complicated.

"Leanna, come back here! I need to talk to you!", Jareth shouted.

There was a heavy sigh and Leanna appeared back in her chair. "I only just left. I couldn't have done anything in that short of time." At that moment, a goblin walked by the open door with a crystal ball imbedded quite deeply in his forehead. Jareth raised an eyebrow at his daughter, and she smiled innocently. "He probably just... fell on it.", she said. Jareth knew she was lying badly on purpose.

"Dogsthorpe, come here.", Jareth told the goblin, and the goblin obeyed, bumping into several things along the way. Jareth realized the crystal wasn't imbedded into the goblin's forehead, but in his one large eye. Jareth glared at his daughter. "I do not want my goblins going blind."

Leanna sighed. "This one was getting on my nerves."

"As you said, you were only out a few moments. He got on your nerves quickly, didn't he?" Jareth raised an eyebrow. Leanna simply glared and snapped her fingers. The crystal disappeared, and the goblin looked around in surprise. When he saw Leanna, he barked in a mixture of surprise and fear and ran off. Jareth sighed. "Leanna, you are scaring my subjects with your behavior. I really need you to keep it down to a minimum."

Leanna took out something from her pocket. It was the vial of clear liquid JJ had shown Jareth a week ago. "Fine.", she said, and she downed the vial in one gulp. "If this does what JJ said it does, it should help."

"And if it turns out it does... Well, I don't suppose I could stop you if you really wanted to go. Do you actually want to go to Lismor Academy?"

Leanna bit her lip. "I have to talk to JJ about it... But yes, I suppose I'd like to go. But, after the wedding."

Jareth grinned. "You've got to talk to JJ about it..."

"Oh, shut up."

Jareth stood up and hugged his daughter. "That's all right, love. You're growing up, and I'm proud of you."

Leanna looked up at him in surprise. "You are?" She gasped. "Well, strike me where I stand, you are! Everyone, drop what your doing, have a drink, celebrate. The Goblin King is proud of someone other than himself! It's a momentous occasion! A true miracle! The most-"

"All right, all right. Cut that out before I take it back.", Jareth growled.

"-the most I've gotten from you by way as a compliment in five years." She hugged him. "I'm glad you're back." And she disappeared.

"I suppose it's too much to ask for you to use the door every once in a while?", Jareth asked his empty study.

"You suppose right.", Leanna said as she passed the doorway.

Jareth shook his head. Sometimes it was annoying to think about how much she was like him.

* * *

Sarah had checked everywhere, but she couldn't find Hoggle anywhere. Sir Didymus was with her, riding through the hallways on Ambrosious.

"Ms. Williams, what are you looking for?", JJ asked as he poked his head out of a door.

"Hoggle.", Sarah answered him.

"Oh. He's probably busy taking care of the fairies down by the entrance of the labyrinth. He's a gardener, so..."

"Oh. Okay, thanks." She turned to walk away.

"Ms. Williams?", JJ said suddenly.

"Just call me Sarah, JJ.", Sarah corrected him.

"Sure, Ms. Williams-I mean, Sarah. Listen, uh... can I show you something? Without you telling Jareth? Because he'll freak if he thinks I'm going to do this without his permission. You know, going to you first and everything." Sarah bit her lip a moment before nodding reluctantly. After all, he planned on telling Jareth anyway. Whatever it was.

"What is it?"

JJ took something small and shiny out of his pocket. "Do you think it's all right?"

"You should know the answer to that just by the unnatural size of my wide eyes.", Sarah replied a little breathlessly.

JJ grinned. "You think it's enough then?"

Sarah laughed a little. "JJ, I think that's more than enough."

JJ nodded. "Then it's perfect."

Sarah grinned. "Well, I'm off to find my friend."

As she walked away, Didymus asked, "Was that for Princess Leanna?"

"Well, if it was for some other lady, Leanna, and Jareth, would kill him.", Sarah reasoned. Didymus nodded wisely, and the two set off once again to look for their friend.

* * *

It had been about a month since Sarah had arrived, and Sarah, JJ, Didymus, and Leanna sat around a Scrabble board. Leanna was winning at the moment, seeing as the three of them were afraid of who, or what, she'd get angry at if she lost.

"_What_ are you three doing?", asked a voice from the door to the library. They all looked up, and Sarah grinned.

"Playing Scrabble.", she replied, knowing exactly why he was asking.

"And why wasn't I invited?", Toby asked as he walked towards them.

"Uncle Toby!", Leanna shouted happily and jumped up and hugged him.

"Hullo, niece.", Toby greeted, hugging her back.

Leanna finally stepped back and looked him up and down. "You look thinner. Have you been eating enough?"

Toby opened his mouth, then shut it and looked at Sarah.

"Leanna, I'm sure he's been fine.", Sarah answered for her brother.

Leanna pursed her lips, but sat back down at the table. Sarah stood up and hugged her little bother. "How've you been, baby brother?", she asked.

"I'm not a baby, Sarah.", he muttered in reply.

Sarah chuckled. "You are to me."

Toby backed away before she could kiss his head. "Why'd it take you so long? I knew women have this thing about weddings, but five years is ridiculous."

"We'll talk about that later, Toby.", Sarah whispered. "Right now, let me introduce you to the archmage, JJ."

Toby shook JJ's hand.

"So, you're Leanna's uncle, huh? Not to mention, Ms. Williams' kid brother that Jareth kidnapped more than 20 years ago?", JJ asked.

"That's me.", Toby answered, nodding.

"Uncle Toby, I've actually, got, uh, something to tell you.", Leanna said suddenly.

"You're uncomfortable.", Toby observed. "That means it _must_ be bad."

"Oh, it's not bad. I'm just not sure how you're going to take it."

"Oh. Okay. Well, continue."

"You're, uh, you're going to be a great-uncle."

Toby went slack-jawed and his eyes widened. Then he grinned. "The archmage is the father, isn't he?"

Leanna raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know?"

Toby rolled his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed there aren't many other humans, or Fae or elves or whatever they've got here. And since I really don't think it's Jareth-"

"I hear my name. What's going on?", Jareth asked as he walked into the library, reading something on a piece of paper. "Oh, Sarah. Ah, Sir Didymus. Just the knight I wanted to see. Didymus, the headmistress of Lismor Academy is arriving tomorrow. I'd like you to escort her through the labyrinth." He looked up at Sarah. "Most of my guests are familiar with the labyrinth and don't need an escort. But for tomorrow, we are going to have a few people who are unfamiliar with my kingdom- Who is this?"

He suddenly noticed Toby, and Toby grinned. "Toby Williams, your future brother-in-law. You know, the one you kidnapped?"

Jareth's eyes widened. "No... It can't be. Really? Good gods, I really am getting old."

Leanna shook her head. "Dad, we've been trying to tell you that for years."

Jareth glared at her for a moment before turning back to Didymus. "Can I count on you, Didymus?"

Sir Didymus bowed. "No harm shall befall the Lady Celeste whilst I accompany her, Your Majesty." The knight bowed once more before leaving.

Toby rubbed his hands together. "So, these days, I like to keep busy. What can I do?"

"For now? I think we've got everything covered.", Jareth replied. "JJ, why don't you show him around the castle?"

"Hang on a sec.", JJ said, then whispered something in Jareth's ear. Jareth nodded in an '_If you must _' gesture.

Jareth leaned over to whisper in Sarah's ear, "He wants to propose to Leanna."

"Ah.", was all Sarah said.

"Is there a proper way to do that?", JJ asked.

Sarah nodded, then stepped on Jareth's foot.

"Ow! What was that for?", Jareth asked, sitting down in Didymus' vacated seat.

Sarah rolled her eyes, then turned back to JJ. "Okay, JJ, you have to-"

"Yes.", Leanna said suddenly.

"Wh-what?", JJ asked.

Leanna rolled her eyes. "You were afraid. I saw what you were afraid of, so I saved you the trouble." She looked up at him. "And I'm saying yes."

JJ gaped at her for a few moments.

"Close your mouth, boy, before I brand you an idiot and forbid you to marry my daughter.", Jareth said in a bored voice. Sarah elbowed him. "Go on, then, the both of you. I believe Toby there is anxious to see the rest of the castle."

Leanna nodded, took JJ and Toby by the hands, and dragged them out of the room.

Jareth sighed. "Perfect. Another bloody wedding to plan."

"Not necessarily...", Sarah said thoughtfully.

Jareth sat up straight. "What? You mean..." A grin slowly spread across his face. "That could work."

"It could..."

"So what've you been up to, Uncle Toby?", Leanna asked as she, JJ, and Toby walked through the gardens. The gardens, as Leanna had always thought, were both like and unlike the labyrinth itself. The gardens weren't bleak and barren like most of the labyrinth, but it wild and untamed and couldn't be contained. It seemed to go on forever, though that was just an illusion it created. Besides, Jareth would get into trouble if one of his trees got into a neighboring country. Bloody politicians... they'd start a war about it all, knowing them.

"Oh, nothing much. Just graduated from college, got work at a local newspaper.", Toby answered, eyeing the strange, multicolored flowers to the side of the seemingly random twisting of the cobbled pathway.

"Hm. That's good.", Leanna replied.

"Yes, well... It's a shame I can't be of much help around here."

"Well, you could always go to the tailor and get some sort of suit made.", JJ suggested.

"I may just do that. But after you've told me about these strange plants. What are they?"

Leanna shrugged. "Who knows? This garden is... unpredictable."

"What about this one?"

JJ and Leanna looked at each other. "Er, that's a daisy.", JJ answered.

"Oh. You mean there are simple things here as well?"

Leanna drew her sword. "Oh yes. Swords are simple."

JJ looked slightly offended. "So is magic." Leanna raised an eyebrow. "Well, no, maybe it isn't, but-"

"I prefer swords. I only use magic when I have to.", Leanna interrupted firmly.

JJ nodded. "I know, love." He took her hand and smiled.

Leanna swore. "I wish you wouldn't do that."

"Do what?", JJ asked innocently.

"That... thing you do that makes me forget what I was going to say."

"Well, unfortunately, I don't have Jareth's power to grant wishes, so-"

Toby cleared his throat. "As interesting as this conversation is, I think we should work on getting back to the castle. It'll be dark soon, and I'm hungry."

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Uncle Toby, for as long as I remember, you've always been hungry."

"And yet, it doesn't matter how much I eat, I stay 'thinsk'."

All three of them looked at each other for a moment before bursting out with laughter, and Leanna and JJ led the way back to the castle.

Jareth rubbed the back of his neck as he walked into his bedroom. He was getting married tomorrow, and he had to get his sleep. Then he looked up. Then again... sleep _could_ wait...

He closed the door behind him with a snap, making Sarah, who was sitting at the window, jump. She focused on him for a few moments, then smiled.

"What are you doing in here, Jareth?", she asked sweetly.

"It _is_ my bedroom.", Jareth answered, walked over to her slowly.

She looked around. "Is it really? Huh."

"Yes, it is. What are you doing in it?" He lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, "Room drafty again?"

Despite her obvious efforts, she shivered. "Might be."

"Ah. So is that why you're trembling? Is it drafty in here as well?"

"Yes, it is."

"Funny. I haven't noticed it. Or is there another reason you're shaking? Wouldn't have to do with how crowded it is in here, would it?"

She glared up at him. "There is no one in her but the two of us."

He looked around. "Is that right? Well, so it is." He looked back around at her, smirking. "Isn't this bad luck Aboveground?"

"What?"

"Seeing the groom the night before the wedding?"

Sarah shrugged. "How in the bloody hell can we possibly have more bad luck?"

"Anything is possible, my dear.", he whispered.

She quickly stood up. "Like what?"

"You're in my bedroom. I consider that a miracle."

There was a sudden knocking on the door. "Dad, what room do you want me to put Uncle Toby in?", Leanna's voice asked.

"Whichever is farthest from mine.", Jareth answered.

Silence for a few moments, then... "Mom, I really don't think this is healthy."

Jareth growled, and muttered something about "bloody kids".

"Don't growl at me, Father." Footsteps were heard then, and they soon faded from Jareth's ears.

Jareth sighed and looked back at Sarah. "Where was I?"

"Something about a miracle...?", Sarah said.

"Oh. Right, right." He pulled her close and kissed her. "Thirty years ago, I would've considered you being in my bedroom a miracle."

"Hm.", was all Sarah said.

"What? Speechless?"

She shook her head. "Trying to concentrate on keeping myself upright. Damn you."

Jareth took a deep breath. "Sarah, do you trust me?"

She looked up at him in surprise, then nodded. "Of course I do."

He sighed. "Then I shall wait one more night. I will not betray your trust to satisfy my own... desires."

"Jareth?"

"Aye, love?"

"When are you going to learn... to shut up?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Jareth gave in and pushed her onto the bed.

"Dad's going to kill you if he catches you in here.", Leanna told JJ, who was currently lying down next to her with a hand propping up his head.

"Your father is otherwise... preoccupied.", JJ answered, grinning. "With you mother, by the way, so I think that gives us extra protection."

Leanna giggled. "You're too modest. I'm sure you've put some spell or another around their room, haven't you?"

He gasped with mock-horror. "Leanna! Now why ever would I do such a thing?"

"Because my uncle would very well have something to say about it, and I don't think it would be particularly pleasant."

JJ grinned. "Well, you know me too well, obviously."

"Yeah, well, it comes with the job."

He was silent for a few moments. "Leanna?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think they know we know?"

Leanna shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Leanna?"

"Hm?"

"Have you, uh, thought of any, er..." He trailed off.

"Have I thought of any what?" Leanna sat up and looked at him.

He pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Names?"

She smiled and buried her head in his chest. "If it's a boy, I want to name him Jareth... or Nicholas."

"I like that. And if it's a girl?"

She shook her head. "I don't know yet, JJ." She sighed and was silent for a long time. When JJ looked down, she was asleep.

* * *

So sorry this took this so long, but I had a bit of writer's block. I hope the length of this one makes up for the long wait. I've actually got Chapter 4 done, but it'll be a couple of days before it goes up.

So, as I've said before, not a big romance person, so very sorry if you wanted details. Otherwise.... How'd you like it? Did it totally suck? I hope not. But if it did, tell me, please. If there is one thing I do not like, it is being lied to. So please don't do that. Next chapter, the wedding, I become evil... *cackles*. Oh, and I have a question... What is a flamer? I've seen the word around a bit, and I don't get it.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 5**

"Leanna, it's too tight. I do not like it.", Sarah complained around the corner from the center of the garden.

"Oh, stop fussing, Mother.", Leanna replied. "It's not the end of the world."

"It will be if you tear my scalp off."

"Relax. I know better. While you were gone, I took classes in this stuff." When Sarah raised an eyebrow, Leanna explained, "Dad said even if I didn't like it, I at least had to learn how to do hair and walk in a dress. Luckily, their hasn't been much call for that. Until now." She was wearing a bright blue dress that was just loose and long enough to hide the fact that she was wearing a T-shirt, black denim pants, and boots.

"Well, you're not actually having to walk in it.", Sarah pointed out

"No, but I still have to act like I am. Hell, if it were up to me, I wouldn't wearing this bloody thing at all. I daresay, JJ wouldn't give a damn. But Dad says I can at least act like a lady once in my life."

"Well, you are a lady, aren't you?"

Leanna snorted. "If I'm a lady, then Uncle Toby is Robin Hood."

Sarah chuckled.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Leanna?"

"I've got something for you. Sort of an early wedding present." She conjured up a crystal and held it out to her mother. "If you ever need me... for any reason at all.... just give that crystal a good shake. I'll know exactly where you are, and I'll be able to get there."

Sarah felt her eyes tear up as she took the crystal. "Thank you, Leanna."

"Dad doesn't know, and I don't want him to yet. He might get jealous."

Sarah shook her head, grinning.

Leanna suddenly grinned too. "You know me and JJ know."

"Know what?"

"What you and Dad are planning? You know, the double-wedding you guys were going to drop on us at the last minute?"

"Damn. How did you find out."

"JJ's the bloody archmage. He can do what he wants, including listen in on the king's discussions."

"Would that be considered treason? Conspiring against the king?"

Leanna thought for a moment. "Nah."

"Leanna you do know the difference between treason and... non-treason."

"Of course.... non-treason has a 'non' on it." She smirked, pulled on Sarah's hair one last time to make sure it was right, and vanished. She instantly came back. "I forgot the glitter. Sorry." She disappeared again, this time leaving Sarah covered in glitter.

"Jareth has corrupted you.", Sarah hissed to the air.

"Not yet, he hasn't.", Leanna said, coming up behind Sarah.

Sarah scowled. "Yes he has. He did the same thing to me, appearing and disappearing like that."

Leanna took Sarah's arm and started to pull her back up the path, away from the 20 or 30 people waiting for them.

"Leanna, what are you doing?"

"Dad has sprung a surprise that even me and JJ didn't know about. And, by the looks of it, neither did you.", Leanna answered.

Leanna pulled Sarah through the twisting maze that was the garden until they finally entered into a small, more secluded clearing. JJ was there talking to a man in sweeping, deep blue robes with a receding hairline. To be getting bald like that, for a Fae anyway, meant he must've been really, _really_ old.

"Dad thought going through everything here first might help make us all less nervous when we have to go in front of those other people.", Leanna explained, and a sly grin spread across her face. "Of course, I'm not going in front of those people. And neither is JJ."

Sarah glared. "You mean you're going to leave me all alone with Jareth in front of those people?"

Leanna grinned. "Yup. Have fun."

Sarah turned to JJ. "JJ, I want a candlestick, a lead pipe, a noose, a gun, a wrench, and a dagger."

JJ looked at her in surprise. "Why?"

"So when I kill Leanna, I can use them all, and nobody will know who did it."

"I'm afraid you might have to fight me for that particular pleasure, Sarah.", Jareth said as he walked into the clearing.

"You'd lose.", Sarah told him, grinning.

Jareth grinned. "That sounds like a challenge to me." He got really close. "You'd do well not to do that, because I can be very cruel."

"Okay, Dad, I don't like it when you talk cute to yourself, much less with Mother.", Leanna informed them.

Jareth growled out a few threats before standing up straight and looking at Leanna. "Very funny, _Princess_."

"Don't call me that!", Leanna growled. "I swear, if you call me that again, I'll put _you_ in an oubliette. And don't think I can't."

"She's been spending far too much time with you.", Sarah whispered in Jareth's ear.

Jareth chuckled. "Yes. She's even taken to owl form, although she prefers a snowy owl rather than my barn owl form." Jareth turned back to Leanna, grinning. "I thought most daughters loved it when their fathers call them 'Princess'."

Leanna scowled. "Yeah, well, those daughters _aren't actually princesses_ and they don't have to deal with it."

"You don't have to deal with it as much you should, little one.", Jareth answered, grinning.

Leanna sighed. "Yeah, but my hand gets cramped with all the invitations to balls that I have to refuse."

Sarah shook her head, chuckling, then looked around. "Now, then. What's this all about?"

"I already told you, Mom. The important part of the wedding will take place, and then you guys will go and do some huge ceremony for all to see.", Leanna said, leaning back on a stone bench. "Damn, these things are uncomfortable."

JJ waved his hand, and the bench turned into an overstuffed couch.

"Thanks, love.", Leanna sighed. She looked up at Jareth and grinned. "Who's first?"

Jareth opened his mouth, then closed it and glared and said, "I told you two to stop listening in on my conversations."

"And we've listened to you when...?"

"You two are first."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"And we've listened to you when...?"

Jareth rubbed his face. "Leanna, if you don't go now, then you won't go at all."

Leanna huffed. "Fine. Come on JJ."

JJ stood and helped Leanna up. Jareth clapped his hands, and Toby, Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus came into the clearing.

It happened fairly quickly. The bald man, whom Jareth said was a cleric, spoke in a language Sarah didn't recognize. Leanna and JJ answered in the same language. The cleric took out a bronze dagger. In a swift movement the man opened a low shallow cut on the inside of JJ's forearm, then on Leanna's. Neither of them winced. When Sarah asked how they could do that, Jareth chuckled.

"I have been training them for years and they've had their share of cuts and bruises.", Jareth answered, sounding slightly amused. "I daresay, they are used to pain by now." Sarah shot him a glare, to which he only chuckled again.

The cleric pressed their two wounds together and spoke in that same odd language.

" 'Become one with each other'.", Jareth translated.

JJ and Leanna gasped and doubled over. They both flashed a blinding white light that made Sarah shield her eyes, and when she looked again, JJ and Leanna were gone.

"Where'd they go?', Sarah asked Jareth.

Jareth smirked. "Probably to consummate their marriage.", he answered smugly.

"Ah.", Sarah said simply, refusing to grin.

Jareth kissed her head. "Last chance to get out of it and go to a normal life in the Above."

"Why you think that I would choose a normal life over all of this is beyond me.", Sarah told him, shaking her head.

Jareth grinned. "Of course, Precious." He took her hand and led her over to the cleric. Somewhere, in the distance, there was a crash and some shouting, but Jareth figured it was someone who couldn't wait to get into the wine. He would take care of it later.

The cleric opened his mouth, but there was a shout behind them, and King Nicholas burst into the clearing.

"Creatures.... attacked us. Not men, definitely not men. And someone else as well...", Nicholas said, and avoided Jareth's eyes.

Jareth dropped Sarah's hand quickly and got in Nicholas' face. "It isn't him, is it? Tell me it's not him, Nicholas."

Nicholas took a deep breath. "It is.", he said simply in a small voice.

Jareth suddenly saw red and he let out a yell of rage. The ground shook so violently, it threw everyone else to their feet.

"Jareth!", said a voice Jareth knew, but he didn't acknowledge the person until Toby got in his face. "Jareth, give me a sword."

The red that Jareth saw dimmed to a dull orange as he looked at Toby in surprise. "Absolutely not. I will not have you fighting. I'm sending you ho-", Jareth started, but Nicholas stopped him with an arm on his shoulder.

Nicholas drew one of his twin swords and handed it to Toby. "Can you use it?", Nicholas asked.

Toby nodded, spinning it in his hand expertly. "I was a champion fencer in highschool.", he informed him.

Sarah's green eyes suddenly came in contact with Jareth's mismatched ones. "Who is it, Jareth?", she asked quietly. There was screaming, closer this time, and she winced.

"It's Wyndham.", Jareth growled. "Nick, stay here and protect Sarah." He turned and stalked out of the clearing, his vision now taken over by red again.

Jareth marched into the main ceremony clearing, and gaped. The creatures he saw were unlike any he had ever seen before. They weren't exactly human, but... he wasn't sure what they were. All he knew was they reeked of dark, evil magic... magic that Jareth had encountered once before.

Toby stood beside him, gaping as well. "What are they?", he asked in awe.

"They are evil.", Jareth answered simply. That was all Toby needed to know. He brandished his sword and joined the rather small group of bodyguards and mages and wizards fighting the creatures.

Someone tapped Jareth on the shoulder, and Jareth spun around. There, standing quite proudly and smugly was Wyndham.

Wyndham was tall and inhumanly pale, more so than even Jareth. That was saying something, since he was actually, well, _human_. Or Jareth thought he was. The man was entirely bald. Jareth suspected he didn't have any hair on his arms or legs either. His nose was nothing but two slits in the middle of his face, his lips were pale, and his pupils were nothing but slits, giving the impression that he was half-snake. His eyes shown red, just as Jareth remembered. The one thing about Wyndham that Jareth noticed was new was the long scar on the side of his face, starting just below his mouth and ending above his left eye.

"Hullo, Wyndham. Fancy seeing you here.", Jareth greeted. Jareth grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes, which remained cold and hard. "It's been a while. Hey, uh, where'd you get the scar?"

Wyndham smiled coldly. "That lady of yours uses her fingernails quite well.", he answered.

Jareth felt every muscle in his body stiffen. He had taken her. It had been his fault, no one else's. Wyndham had been the one to inflict the damage on her, or at least the one that had ordered it. He was the reason Sarah woke up in the middle of the night, screaming and thrashing.

Jareth came to the conclusion that if he hadn't hated Wyndham before, he most certainly did now.

Jareth finally returned Wyndham's mirthless smile. "I applaud my lady then. I'll shall have to reward her later... after I _kill_ you."

Wyndham chuckled. "You have no idea who you are dealing with, Goblin King."

"Of course I do. You're an evil mage who is out for revenge against me."

"WRONG!!!", Wyndham roared. "I am the king of the tenth kingdom, Neroche, _Goblin King_. My army of Krug will crush your weak subjects!"

"Just because you murdered the real king doesn't make you the king.", Jareth said. "Not if the power didn't come to you. Willingly."

Wyndham chuckled. "Who said Mochriadhemiach was dead?" He conjured a sword and attacked Jareth. Another blade blocked his blow, and Jareth looked around at Leanna, whose face was contorted with rage.

Jareth conjured his own sword and joined the fight. "Leanna, get back to the castle!", Jareth shouted at his daughter.

"Are you insane?!", she shouted. "I'm going to help you!"

Jareth punched Wyndham in the face, sending him stumbling backwards, and Jareth turned to her briefly and said, "This isn't just about _your_ life anymore, Leanna."

Leanna looked at him in surprise before blocking one of Wyndham's blows... without looking. She nodded and disappeared as Jareth blocked another blow. Jareth turned his attention to the evil man facing him. Jareth's vision became blurred as he sent attack after attack at Wyndham so fast, all the other man could do was block.

Finally, Wyndham's sword went flying. Jareth chuckled and brought his sword up to point at Wyndham's chest.

"You die... now.", Jareth growled.

"I will have my revenge, Jareth. Mark my words.", Wyndham hissed back.

Jareth started to shove his sword forward to carve out Wyndham's heart, but he cut himself short at the sound of a scream unlike any he had heard yet. He swore, knowing Wyndham would get away for the time being, and looked for the source. One thing in particular. One of Wyndham's creatures was bent over someone. When Jareth turned back around, Wyndham was, predictably, gone.

Jareth swore again and made his way to the creature, cutting through others as he went. He noticed with grim satisfaction the since his small but ruthless goblin "army" had joined the fight, the creatures' number seemed to be dwindling.

Jareth ran his sword through the creatures back, then yanked his sword back out. He kicked the thing off of the fallen man, and sucked in his breath quickly. It was Toby.

Toby had taken a rather deep cut in the side, but what drew Jareth's attention the most was his left leg. It looked as if it had been gnawed on. There were bite marks on his skin, but those were nothing compared to the fact that the creature had eaten all the way to the bone, which, upon closer inspection, also had bite marks on it. These creatures were gruesome indeed.

Jareth looked around and recognized some of the people left fighting. The headmistress of Lismor Academy, Celeste, was a blur of color as she swirled with magic and metal. JJ was doing quite a formidable job himself, though Jareth would have something to say later to him about him putting his life in danger. There were countless goblins all over the place, tripping the creatures or riding on their backs yelling, "Yee-haw!"

There was King Nicholas and King Roland as well. Jareth expected Nicholas had put some sort of ward around Sarah. Jareth's parents, the High King and Queen, fought side-by-side. Jareth sucked in a deep breath.

"Archmage!", he yelled. JJ looked around at him, slicing through the creature he was fighting as he went, and marched over. He took one look at Toby and knelt down beside him, summoning a crystal. The crystal morphed into a clear bottle of red liquid. JJ forced it down semi-conscious Toby's throat.

"That'll put you to sleep.", JJ explained, then looked up at JJ. "I'm going to take him to the infirmary. He needs special care." And with that he disappeared.

* * *

Three hours later, Jareth, Nicholas, and Roland were waiting outside the infirmary, and Leanna, Didymus, Hoggle, and Ludo were out looking for Sarah. Jareth assumed she had gotten lost in the gardens, since it was very easy to do so if you didn't know your way around.

JJ finally came out, ashen faced and his white tunic splattered with blood and other things Jareth wasn't sure he wanted identified.

"The cut in his side was very easy to heal with a little magic.", JJ started. "His leg, however... If he was Fae, I could fix it, but... I couldn't save it."

Jareth stood abruptly. "What are you saying?"

JJ took a deep breath. "I'm saying I had to sever his leg from just above his knee."

Jareth wanted to be angry with his archmage, and son-in-law, Jareth reminded himself. But he didn't have the strength to be angry. He simply collapsed into his chair, put his head in his hands, and sighed.

"I was actually very surprised they didn't attack the castle.", Roland said.

"That's because he knew what he was after wasn't going to be in the castle.", Leanna's voice said as she joined the group. Her voice was shaking, and Jareth knew if _she_ was scared, then there was very good reason for everyone else to be too. He snapped his head up to look at her. Ludo, Hoggle, and Didymus flocked her, reminding Jareth of her mother all those years ago when she bloody near destroyed his kingdom. There was a fear and anger in her eyes, making her look even more like Sarah. Wait, who was putting all these thoughts of Sarah in his head? He met Leanna's eyes and recognized the taste of her Gift. She was trying to tell him something. But what? Sarah...

Jareth suddenly stiffened and his gaze became cold and without emotion. "And just what was he after?", Jareth asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Leanna took a deep breath. "Dad, Mom's gone."

* * *

I'm EVIL!!! The upside of the next couple of chapters is that they find a solution for Toby's leg, and Leanna, JJ, and, for reasons I won't divulge in now, Toby set off for Lismor Academy. I was actually thinking about killing Toby, or almost killing him, or have him disappearing like Sarah, but then I thought of this and decided this was better. Please don't kill me, peoples.

Jareth: You are so dead, Lp.

Lp: As if I haven't heard _that_ before. And yet here I am.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Leanna, JJ, and Toby sat in front of Jareth's desk as he paced back and forth, their heads moving from side to side in unison as they watched him.

"Wow, this is, like, so deja vu.", JJ muttered.

Jareth suddenly yelled and swept the things off his desk with one sweep of his arm, making them all wince.

Jareth panted. "I just... got her back... and now... she's gone again." Jareth collapsed in his chair and put his head in his hands, his pride struggling with his emotions on whether or not Jareth should cry in front of other people. He finally looked up at Toby, who was looking utterly lost among them. "Toby, until this is resolved, I do not want to chance trying to send you back home. There's no telling what Wyndham will do."

Leanna suddenly sat up straight. "Who is he, Dad?", she asked bluntly.

Jareth scowled. "That is none of your concern."

Leanna was up and in his face so quick, Jareth couldn't follow her. Her hands gripped the armrests as she glared daggers at him.

"None of my concern? _None of my concern?!_", she asked incredulously. "He kidnapped my mother! Don't tell me it's none of my concern, _Jareth!_"

Jareth looked up at her in surprise. She never called him by his name anymore, and Jareth knew she was really very angry. Jareth sighed and looked back down at his hands.

"Very well.", he said simply. Leanna nodded with satisfaction and sat down stiffly in her chair.

"So, who is he?"

Jareth took a deep breath. "To understand, we have to go back over a thousand years ago, even before I was born. Back then, according to Nicholas, Nick had another queen and a few children, and his granddaughter was the queen of what we now call the tenth kingdom, once called Neroche. Wyndham's grandfather tried to overthrow the king and queen, but he failed and he was killed. Neroche was at peace for the next couple of centuries. The people thought the threat was over. That was, until, Wyndham came along. And he succeeded where his grandfather did not. Legend says that he killed everyone save the king, a fact which was all but confirmed when I fought him just a few hours ago. Nobody really knows for sure since everyone who has gone inside its borders has never come back out. The kingdom never bothered anyone before, so after a while, it became nothing but a memory. Until about 200 years ago, and that's where I came in."

"This place is a lot more complicated than I thought.", Toby whispered.

Leanna clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Uncle Toby. You'll be back to your simple, boring, short life soon if I have anything to do about it."

"Gee, thanks.", Toby said sarcastically. Jareth cleared his throat. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Thank you.", Jareth said. "Anyway, 2 kingdoms border the tenth kingdom: The Goblin Kingdom and Nariem, King Roland's kingdom. Lismor is in Nariem, and isn't far from the border of the Goblin Kingdom and Nariem. So, about 200 years ago, Wyndham got it into his thick head that he could take my kingdom."

Leanna snorted. "Well, then, he was very thickheaded indeed."

Jareth nodded. "Anyway, the attack lasted a few days before they finally started retreating, and while they were retreating, I decided to leave them with a warning..." He trailed off there and looked out of the window, his eyes becoming dark and... ancient.

"What'd you do?", Leanna asked.

"I... I killed his wife, actually."

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess it's no wonder he wants my mother is it? If somebody had killed JJ, I'd want to kill... well, actually, I'd go after them and give them a nice, slow, painful death, but I can see where he's coming from."

Jareth grimaced. "You know, Leanna, I keep you around just for your cheerfulness and support. It makes me feel _so_ much better."

Leanna grinned. "I know. Isn't it great?" She sobered quickly. "Dad, you're not going to retreat into yourself like last time, are you?"

"No, I'm not. This time, now that I know where she is, I'm going after her. And him. Wyndham is dead." Jareth clenched his fists.

Toby went to stand up, then grimaced and fell back into his chair. "Damn. This really sucks.", he muttered, glaring at his half-leg.

Leanna stood up and began to wander around Jareth's study looking at the many spell books there. She pulled out one and started flipping through it casually. She stopped and stared at something for a while before muttering something. Toby cried out in pain. Jareth jumped up, then froze, staring at Toby's leg in wonder. Well, actually, his foot. There was a foot on the floor where it looked like Toby's would be. Toby rolled up his pants leg... but there was no leg. JJ passed his hand through the gap between knee and foot. Toby gingerly stood up, testing his weight on the foot, then walked around the room, limping only slightly.

Leanna closed the book with a snap. "There. That oughta work until we can find a better solution.", she said confidently. And her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fainted.

JJ swore and picked her up. "I'll take care of her, Jareth.", he growled, glaring at his wife, and walked out of the room.

An hour later, Jareth glared at Celeste's face in his crystal.

"They cannot stay here, not with what I am going to be doing.", he growled.

"Jareth, one of them is human, a mortal. Do you have any idea what he would go through?", Celeste reasoned.

"He has his niece and... nephew-in-law to look after him quite well. And there are other humans there.", Jareth argued.

Celeste sighed. "Very well. But I will not be held responsible if he is killed out of sheer resentment of his being _mortal_."

"No. Whoever killed him will, and I will come after them." Jareth cut off the connection.

* * *

Leanna, JJ, and Toby stood out side the gate set in a very imposing wall. It was very tall, several stories high, and went off in both directions farther than the eye could see. The gate was more like a very large portcullis made of bronze, and right above it was the school crest, a scepter crossed with a sword.

"You know, I think we were supposed to take a left 2 miles back.", Toby said nervously.

JJ rolled his eyes. "No, this is the place. I've been here once before, when Jareth was summoned over here."

Leanna looked at him in surprise. "I don't remember that."

JJ shook his head. "It was a while before you first came."

"Oh."

JJ handed Leanna a large vial of the clear potion, and she downed it.

Toby shrugged. "This place looks nothing like a school. More like a prison."

"Don't be silly. It's a defensive structure. All the big estates have them. Even some of the kingdoms have walls.", Leanna explained. "Except my Dad. He had to be the weird one and build the labyrinth." She rolled her eyes and walked towards the gate, looking up at the small slits on either side of it. "Oi! Let us in!", she shouted.

A bored voice answered, "What's your business here?"

"My business will be messy if you don't open up the gates!", Leanna shouted back.

"Don't threaten me, girl." There was a pause. "You must be a new candidate. Who is your parent?"

Leanna smirked. "Jareth the Goblin King."

There was a crash and a face peered out. "Oh, I'm sorry, Princess Leanna. Of course, I'll let you in right away." Seconds later, the gate started to rise.

"What was all that about?", Toby asked as they walked through.

"My father is feared throughout the Nine Kingdoms because of all the power he has, which is quite a lot, actually. I have more power than even he does, and that makes me just as feared, if not more.", Leanna explained. "And even if they aren't afraid of me, they are of Dad."

Toby shook his head. "It sounds weird to have someone call the Goblin King Dad.", he muttered.

Leanna grinned. "Yeah, well, you get used to it after a while."

They had walked into one of the biggest courtyards Toby had ever seen, even on movies, and as soon as they did, Leanna and JJ doubled over and gasped.

"What happened?", Toby asked.

"This place is a... a magic sink.", JJ explained in between gasps. "My magic is... It's gone."

"Gone?", Toby echoed.

"Not for good.", Leanna assured him. "But while we are inside these walls, it is."

Toby nodded, still not really understanding, then looked back at the courtyard. There were at least a hundred people, ages ranging from about ten to early twenties by the looks of them.

"Don't let their looks fool you.", Leanna whispered. "Most of them are a couple centuries old, at least. Tread lightly with this crowd. You're not fencing anymore, Uncle Toby."

With that happy thought, Toby followed Leanna and JJ into the courtyard. As they passed, people stopped what they were doing to stare at them, and half of them went to draw their swords. Leanna and JJ both kept their hands on the hilts of their swords. They were almost to the center of the courtyard when they heard it: the metallic hiss of someone drawing their sword.

Toby stared at the girl who had drawn it. If Toby thought about it, she actually looked like Leanna would if Leanna had brown hair. They were both about the same height, and both had near flawless faces. But that was where the comparisons stopped. The girl, or young woman actually, had green eyes whereas Leanna's were two different colors, like her father's eyes. And while Leanna's eyes shown with youth and a kind of humorous fierceness, the other girl's eyes were ancient and sad and something Toby could only describe as looking lost and at home at the same time.

"If you can beat me, you may pass. If not, you will not be returning home in one piece.", the girl warned JJ, who had a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, if you fight him, there won't be any fight.", Leanna said calmly, hands in her pockets and looking bored. "He sucks without his precious magic to help him along."

Toby hid his grin behind his hand.

"Only he would be able to come here. He's the archmage of the Goblin Kingdom.", the girl sneered. "But who are you?"

"My name is Lia, and this is Tobias.", Leanna answered, gesturing to Toby. "We are the escorts for the Lord Archmage."

JJ and Toby looked at her in surprise, but they, perhaps wisely, chose to stay silent.

"Well, then I'm afraid I won't waste my time on you. Besides he's human.", the girl said boredly, pointing at Toby.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, so are you, lady.", Leanna replied. She drew her sword silently and leaned on it.

"Are you challenging me, Lia?", the girl asked.

"Depends.", Leanna answered.

"On what?"

Leanna shrugged. "It depends on whether or not we're going to have to change your diaper after we're done."

The girl's eyes widened, and she attacked. Leanna moved out of the way, letting the girl's sword run along the edge of her own blade, causing a sound that made Toby's ears protest. The girl stood up straight, scowling. Leanna took hold of her sword and held it up.

"En guarde.", she said, grinning.

"What?", the girl asked.

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd get that." Leanna attacked with a quick backhand strike, then two strong forehand strikes, knocking the girl to the ground. The girl blocked Leanna's sword and rolled away, jumping up. It went back and forth for about five more minutes, neither one breathing harder than normal or showing any signs of slowing when a clear voice washed over them.

"That's enough.", the voice said. It belonged to the woman walking toward them. She had dark eyes and long black hair. "I believe she has more than proved herself, Morgan, holding out this long against you."

The girl, whom Toby guessed was Morgan, shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah, she did." Morgan turned her gaze on Leanna. "You're no body guard. Your skill and endurance is proof of that. Who are you?"

Leanna sheathed her sword and smirked and bowed ridiculously low. "Princess Leanna of the Goblin Kingdom, daughter of King Jareth." There were gasps and murmurs of surprise throughout the watching crowd. "It's not often I meet someone who matches my skill. The only one I know of is my father, who I am not ashamed to say can best me quite easily if he has enough goblins around to trip me up." There was laughter. "As it is, I'm sure if we'd been fighting much longer, you would've bested me. I respect anyone who can do that... except my father, of course, and he gripes about it constantly. And that means I don't respect many people." She inclined her head. "I am honored, Miss Morgan, to have met you, and if you should ever need me, just call." Leanna stuck out her hand.

Morgan smirked and took her hand. "You know, you like just as much of the limelight as the Goblin King does."

"Well, when you've lived in his castle for five years, he starts to grow on you. Kinda like mold." Leanna grinned, then looked around up at the woman and nodded her head. "Headmistress Celeste." She looked around at JJ and Toby. "The archmage of the Goblin Kingdom, Jareth the Second, but we all call him JJ. And my uncle, Toby."

Celeste nodded. "Yes, yes. Well, pick up your things and follow me. I'll show you where you'll be staying for the next few months." They picked up their bags and walked toward a rather imposing structure.

The castle looked to be made of black obsidian, and it was several floors high, eight to be exact. At the southeast corner, for they had entered from the east, was a tall tower supporting a long, vertical white pole that bore a black flag with the bronze crest,a scepter crossed with a sword, sewn on it. There were several different turrets on all the corners of the levels below the tower. On some of the lower levels, Toby could see movement inside them. He could hear the crashing of waves on rocks somewhere to the north, perhaps off the northwest corner, and there was a salty smell in the air, like the sea.

"Real homey.", Leanna commented. "Shame nobody else in the Nine Kingdoms has an Escher Room. I'd probably visit a lot more often. Those damn things are fun."

"Excuse me, but what does homey mean?", Morgan asked.

Leanna snorted. "Sorry. Even after five years, I still like to use Aboveground language. It means, uh, cozy or, you know, home-like. The complete contrast of what this place actually is."

"Oh.", Morgan said, still sounding slightly confused.

They entered through the large oak doors and into the Entrance Hall. The ceiling was so high up, Toby could barely make it out. The floors were made of the same black obsidian as the outside of castle. The walls on the inside of the castle looked to be made of simple stone, and Toby imagined that in between the obsidian and the stone was some sort of insulation. There was an open door way to the left that had stairs that descended downward, and there was a doorway to the right that led to what looked like another large hall with two long tables and a third shorter one at the furthermost end. Up ahead was a huge, marble, spiral staircase that rose and branched off in some places.

"You could get lost in this place.", JJ said.

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Please. This is nothing. A goblin could figure this place out." When JJ raised an eyebrow, Leanna shrugged. "Okay, maybe not a goblin. They're stupid. But you get my point."

Headmistress Celeste led them up the stairs to the fifth floor. They crossed one of the wide marble bridges connecting the stairs to the rest of the castle. Toby looked over the railing and felt a little vertigo wash over him.

"Uncle Toby, if you know you're scared of heights, why do you do this to yourself?", Leanna asked exasperatedly, pulling him away.

"I'm not scared of heights.", Toby said indignantly.

"Toby, take my advice: When it comes to fears, don't argue with Leanna.", JJ said.

"Why?", Morgan asked.

"That's my Gift.", Leanna explained. "I see what people are afraid of. Among other things."

"You have more than one Gift?", Morgan asked.

"No, it just all kind of comes in the same package. I can use that fear to manipulate people and make them do things they wouldn't normally."

"You mean like you did to Theo when you were in the fourth grade?", Toby asked.

Leanna scowled. "That was an accident, Uncle Toby.", she growled.

"Who's Theo, and what did you do to him?", JJ asked.

Leanna snorted. "He's scared of snakes, so I put a rubber one in his desk one time. Poor kid wet himself."

"And how is that an accident?", Morgan asked.

Leanna shrugged. "I didn't actually put the snake there. I wished for it to... be..." Leanna, JJ, and Toby looked at each other. "No. He didn't. Wouldn't. Would he?"

JJ shrugged. "He grants wishes, doesn't he?"

Leanna pursed her lips. "I hope he didn't. That incident got me into trouble."

Headmistress Celeste suddenly stopped in front of a door.

"Headmistress, this is my room.", Morgan said.

Celeste nodded. "I know that Morgan. Will you please open the door? I believe you have something."

Morgan's eyes suddenly lit up mischievously. "I have nothing of yours, Headmistress."

Leanna snorted. "Yes, you do. What's a... Originator?"

Morgan scowled. "How'd you know about that?"

"You were _afraid_ the Headmistress would find out.", Leanna answered.

Morgan swore.

"How unladylike.", Leanna commented.

"Morgan, just open the door.", the headmistress ordered.

Morgan sighed and took out an iron key. Leanna and JJ shrank away from the object.

"Oh, don't worry. Iron won't hurt you while you're here. This is a magic sink. There's nothing for it to hurt.", Celeste assured them. Leanna and JJ let out a breath.

The door opened and Morgan walked inside the room, then came back a few moments later holding what looked like some sort of gun. There were two gears sticking out of the top, though, with numbers on it, and there didn't seem to be any kind of trigger on it.

"How do you work it?", Toby asked.

"You need magic to activate it.", Leanna answered.

"How do you know?"

Leanna rolled her eyes. "It's only logical, Uncle Toby. I mean, it has no trigger, so what else is going to do it?" When Toby didn't answered, she looked up at Headmistress Celeste. "I am right, aren't I?"

Celeste nodded. "You are. But the students aren't supposed to handle it. Now, come, your room is right next door, Leanna."

Leanna's room was bathed in dark blues and purples with gold stars. There was a large, mahogany desk in front of a window. When Toby looked out, he could see the ocean, the waves crashing against the rocks straight below.

Leanna turned on the headmistress. "How'd you know?", she asked.

Celeste smiled. "Jareth called ahead and told me. Usually, I don't take anything, not even from him, but I'm not too fond of goblins with bog problems infesting my academy, so I obliged."

Leanna scowled. "My dad knows me far too well."

JJ smirked. "Well, love, it kind of... comes with the job."

Leanna made a face. "Oh, shut it."

"Oh, and one more thing.", Celeste said. "Stefan!"

There was a crash somewhere above them, and some shouting. A few minutes later, a man who looked about Toby's age, maybe a little younger, ran into the room.

"Yes, Headmistress?", he asked, bowing.

"Bring Princess Leanna's familiar, please.", Celeste replied.

Stefan's eyes widened as he turned them on Leanna, and he bowed.

"Your High-", he started but Leanna interrupted him.

"Don't call me that!", she demanded, and the poor guy scrambled backwards out of the room. "It's Leanna. Just Leanna. Please. If one more person calls me that, I swear, the first chance I get, they're going straight into the Bog of Stench." She looked at JJ in surprise. "I didn't just say that, did I?"

JJ grinned. "Yes, you did. Every bit the Goblin King's daughter."

Leanna groaned and flopped onto the bed. "Why do I have to pick up my father's bad habits?"

Toby snorted. "You had his bad habits long before you actually started living with him, trust me."

Leanna sat up. "I did? Like what?"

"Well, besides cruelty-"

"I am not cruel.", Leanna growled.

"Riiiiight.", Toby said. "And I'm Robin Hood."

Leanna blew a strand of hair out of her face, but it fell back anyway. JJ reached out and tucked it behind her ear.

Leanna swore. "Don't do that, damn you. I hate it when you do that. Great. Now I can't remember what we were talking about."

"We were talking about how you inherited Jareth's bad habits.", Toby answered.

"Well, I don't want to talk about that.", Leanna snapped, then looked up at Headmistress Celeste. "What's a familiar?"

"Well, it's a special kind of pet. It helps you with magic... you know, when you can actually perform it. They are also trained to carry messages and they are very loyal.", Celeste explained. "Some of the pets are normal, cats and dogs and birds... but some of them magical, like phoenixes or griffins. It all depends on what the Sword says."

Toby didn't fail to notice that Morgan stiffened at the mention of it.

"What's 'the Sword'?", Leanna asked.

"We keep it in the Tower, the only place where magic can be performed in my academy, and it chooses what my students learn and where to put them and, well, what their familiar will be."

Leanna looked around her room. "Cool.", was all she said.

Stefan entered the room again, a little more cautiously this time. "Um, Headmistress, we've got a problem.", he informed Celeste reluctantly.

"What is it, Stefan?", Celeste asked. He whispered something in her ear, and her eyes widened. "That's not possible."

"Yes, well, when I reached into the mirror, that's what it gave me.", Stefan replied.

"Where is it?", Celeste asked.

"It followed me. It's in the hallway.", Stefan answered.

"What is it?", JJ asked.

"Um, well, Leanna, your familiar is one we haven't seen in a while. Not since... well, even before Jareth's time.", Celeste explained.

"What is it?", Leanna asked.

As if in answer, there was snuffling heard from behind Celeste and Stefan, and they stepped aside. They all gasped, but perhaps none as loudly as Leanna. There, shuffling a little awkwardly into the room and looking quite a bit like a large lizard, with large gold eyes, was an emerald green dragon.

The only thing Leanna could say was, "No way."

* * *

Sarah was bodily thrown into the room and down a small flight of steps. Above her, a heavy iron doors swung shut. There were many clicks and bangs, telling Sarah that the door was being locked down tight. She was in a dark room that smelled damp and... like other things that Sarah would rather not think about. There was hardly any light except for the little that came through grates in the ceiling.

Memories suddenly overwhelmed Sarah. The bald man, Wyndham, who called himself the king, the one how had captured her the first time. The hundreds of strange creatures he had at his command. This dark dungeon, where there was no hope, no light... No... wait. Sarah remembered something else. The only person who had shown her kindness down here. What was his name? Sarah racked her brain until it finally occurred to her.

"Miach?", she called softly. There was no answer. "Miach!", she called again, louder this time.

There was a scrambling in the dark shadows to her left and a tall man came into the dim light from one of the grates. He was incredibly gaunt, and his hair was greasy-looking and cut badly by a knife, as was his rather thick beard. Even so, his very pale blue eyes shone with humor and hope despite his current location, and he was still one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

"Lady Sarah.", he greeted in a gruff voice. "I am sorry to see you're back here. I thought they let you go."

"Apparently, they had meant me to be dead when they let me go, but I was healed, so they decided to have another go.", Sarah explained, leaning her back against the cold stone wall and sliding down to the floor.

Miach sighed and rubbed his neck. "How is your daughter, then?", he asked, sliding down next to her.

"Married.", Sarah replied. "And expecting her first child."

There was a long silence. "I desperately want you to be out for that, Sarah."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing you can do about it." Sarah hadn't meant it to sound bitter.

Miach stood up and began to pace. He took out a long knife from inside the folds of his tattered cloak. It was quite a beautiful things. The blade had carvings of vines and flowers on it, and the hilt was gold with diamonds on it. Sarah remembered now how, when he thought she was asleep, he would take it out and he'd get a sad look in his eyes.

"Who'd that belong too?", Sarah asked.

He jerked his head up in surprise like he'd forgotten she was there, and he smiled sadly. "My wife.", he answered. "She had a sword to match, actually. I don't know what happened to her."

"She wasn't killed along with everyone else?", Sarah asked.

Miach shook his head. "I was able to help her escape."

"Miach, why did Wyndham keep you prisoner?"

"Sarah, you always ask that question, and I never have an answer for you. I was a simple farmer. I had some magic, so perhaps Wyndham wants it. I don't know."

"Miach, I raised a daughter who is an expert at lying, and you are nothing like my daughter."

"Well, I've never been a good liar, but I don't know the true answer to your question."

"You're still lying."

"Perhaps. But with all due respect, it really doesn't concern you."

Sarah sighed. "You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to try getting some sleep." And even though Sarah hadn't thought she would be able to sleep at all, to her surprise, she fell asleep almost as soon as she shut her eyes.

* * *

Yes, I realize I'm evil, but all in good time. All in good time, folks. And almost 5, 000 words this chapter! Whoo-hoo!

Sarah: *sigh* Why must you do this to us?

Lp: It is increasingly fun to make Jareth and Leanna angry. And Toby, I'm sure he'll have some words later on.

JJ: And while Jareth, Leanna, and Toby plot on how to kill you, authoress, what should the rest of us do?

Lp: *shrugs* Knit.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It really was a shame that the reason that JJ and Toby had gotten to stay here had been gone for the past two months.

The reason was, of course, that Princess Leanna of the Goblin Kingdom had come, and Jareth had practically forced Headmistress Celeste to let them go along.

JJ was a mess, but he was somewhat glad that Leanna had at least remembered to steal most of his stores of her potion, which would last at least two months, perhaps even more.

Headmistress Celeste had held back from calling Jareth, since she really didn't think he would take the news lightly, especially with what had happened to that woman, Sarah. But Celeste finally broke down and called him.

And it was that call that led to JJ's current position: pinned against the rough stone wall of the lists, where they were trained with swords, by a severely pissed off Goblin King.

"I don't believe you, JJ. You were supposed to watch her, damn it.", Jareth hissed in his face. There was a small crowd starting to gather.

"Well, it's not like we could sleep in the same room, Jareth.", JJ retorted. "Against school rules."

"And since when have you followed the rules?"

"Since I decided I would play it safe. You know, with..." JJ trailed off, looking around at the gathering crowd. The lists were on the northern side of Lismor. They were arranged in a kind of U pattern formed by three buildings, an armory and barracks for trained guards.

Jareth's glare became even harder. "All the more reason why you should've been looking after her, archmage.", he hissed.

JJ opened his mouth to retort, but there was a sudden screaming from the courtyard, and they both looked. A dragon had swooped down on the people there, and was doing it again and again. Jareth and JJ looked at each other, their anger gone for the moment, and they ran towards the courtyard.

The dragon wasn't particularly large, perhaps 5 feet high, and maybe about 3 or 4 feet long, not including the tail, which added on another two or three feet. Still, it wasn't everyday an emerald green dragon with golden eyes starts swooping down on you like it's about to eat you or burn you to a crisp. The thing was, JJ recognized this dragon, even if it had grown a couple feet.

_Leanna_, he thought, and he ran towards the dragon.

Even as he thought it, the large gate began to open and in walked a rather ragged looking young woman with dark red hair. The courtyard went silent as she made her way to the castle. The redhead seemed to be limping a littler, and the sword her father had given her was limp in her hand, dragging along behind her. When she made it to where a little clearing had been made, she leaned against the dragon and closed her eyes, smiling slightly.

Jareth was the first to snap out of a state of shock as he slowly made his way through the thickening crowd to stand in front of Leanna, blocking her sunlight. JJ followed close behind. Morgan held back from approaching Leanna, and JJ found himself looking around for Toby.

Leanna cracked open an eye, and groaned. "Dad, I'm fine. I was helping my familiar with something important.", she muttered.

Jareth said nothing, except to put his hands on his hips and tilt his head to the side a little, pursing his lips.

Leanna looked at him for a second. "You look gay when you stand like that.", she commented. She looked past him to JJ. She looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to Jareth and throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Sorry, Dad. I wasn't thinking. I know what with Mom and everything, you must've been scared and all. And I know it's not all about me anymore, I know that."

Jareth swore and wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Don't you ever do that again. Do you hear me?", he hissed.

"I hear you. Doesn't mean I'm going to listen, of course, but I definitely heed the warning.", Leanna replied, making Jareth chuckle. He released her and turned her around, peering at something that was blocked from JJ's view.

"Leanna, what is-", Jareth started, starting to grab at something, but the dragon roared and Jareth hastily withdrew his hand. JJ moved forward slightly and gasped. Strapped to Leanna's back was an emerald green sheath, made of what looked like dragon scales. In the sheath was a sword. The handle was wrapped in leather. A blue stone that glowed gold faintly from within was held on the pommel by three silver, claw-like holders. Four dragon heads with long crests that stretched outward acted as the guard. Each dragon had eyes of the same kind of blue stone that was on the pommel. (A/N I know you guys are probably tired of hearing this, but I am horrible when it comes to describing stuff. If it helps, there's a link to a picture of the sword I based it on at the bottom of my profile.)

"Don't touch it, you idiot.", JJ hissed at Jareth, and the Goblin King glared at him. JJ looked at the dragon. "May I?"

The dragon hesitated then nodded and said, "You may, archmage." JJ was only a little shocked to hear a female voice.

JJ looked at Leanna for final confirmation, and she nodded. JJ gingerly took the sword out of its sheath and inspected the stones closely, not quite believing what he was seeing. JJ looked up at Leanna. "You went to the Dragon Cou-", he started, but Leanna shook her head wildly, looking around at all the people staring at them.

"Inside, JJ.", she commanded. "We can talk then." She sheathed both sword again and, wrapping an arm around the dragon's neck, walked inside.

Jareth looked over at Morgan, who had come to stand beside JJ. "Who are you?", he asked.

Morgan drew herself. "I am Morgan.", she replied simply.

Jareth turned his attention on JJ. "I am not an idiot.", he growled and stalked after Leanna.

JJ looked at Morgan, who shook her head and went after Jareth. JJ sighed. What had Leanna been up to?

* * *

They were in the headmistress' office. The dragon sat on the large balcony outside, sticking her head and neck through the open window.

"Now, then, Leanna where have you and your familiar been?", Headmistress Celeste asked.

"We went to the Dragon Council first so that they could name her and send her on her own quest to find her stones.", Leanna answered, gesturing towards the dragon.

"Why?"

"Because she wouldn't have anything to give her her magic, and nor would she have anything to symbolize her heritage."

JJ inspected the stones on the sword more closely than before. "_Lapis draconiensis aurulucentis_.", he breathed. "Amazing. I never thought I'd live to see one, let alone all of these."

Leanna nodded. "How'd you know?", she asked.

"I used to spend most of my free time hopping around from library to library. I know quite a bit about quite a few things.", JJ answered. "Mind you, I didn't enter them all legally."

Morgan snorted. "All you archmages are alike. Sticking your noses in where they don't belong."

"You sound as though you have experience in that area.", Leanna said.

Morgan simply grunted.

"If I may.", the dragon interrupted. "I convinced the cyclops that live under Mount Leta to forge them into a sword so that Leanna could better help protect them."

"Ah, but I'm sure Leanna has other reasons for wanting to carry that sword.", Celeste said knowingly.

Leanna shook her head. "No. I don't, actually.", she said.

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Then you aren't aware of the fact that as long as you carry that sword, you can do magic anywhere you wish. Even here?"

Leanna's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I hadn't even noticed that it came back." She summoned a crystal, grinning, and tosses it in the air a couple of times. She threw it towards Jareth and his hair turned pink. Jareth scowled.

"I hate magic sinks.", he muttered.

"Let me see that.", JJ half-demanded, then looked at the dragon. When she nodded, JJ took hold of the sword and summoned his own crystal. He seemed to just admire it for a few moments before abruptly throwing it at Jareth, turning the Goblin King's nose blue. Jareth lunged for the sword, but the dragon growled and he drew back, glaring.

"Such a pity there's no such thing as divorce in the Underground.", he growled at the two grinning fools sitting next to him.

Morgan fell out of her seat in surprise. "You guys are _married_?", she asked with wide eyes.

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Noooo. Gee, Morgan, you'd think you would've picked up on that right about now."

Morgan scowled. "Marriage is a waste of time, if you ask me. Meaningless."

Leanna stood abruptly. "It is not! I love JJ, and that is not a waste of time!"

"It is when it turns out wrong.", Morgan muttered.

Leanna glared at her for a few more moments before her gaze softened and she relaxed. "Perhaps it would be best to drop the subject for the time being."

"I'd like that.", Morgan agreed, and Leanna sat back down.

Jareth inspected his fingernails. "I cannot go back to the Goblin Kingdom with a blue nose and pink hair.", he informed them calmly.

"You can change it once you get outside the gates.", JJ pointed out.

Jareth scowled. "I can't walk through this school with a blue nose and pink hair, then."

"Oh, come on. It won't hurt you to show a little humility.", Leanna said.

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one with the blue nose and pink hair."

Leanna crossed her arms. "You know just as well as I do that you can't win.", she informed him. "I advise that you give in before I have your fingernails painted as well."

Celeste snorted in a very unladylike way. "Jareth the cross-dresser.", she laughed.

Leanna grinned. "That's not a bad idea, Headmistress." Jareth groaned, and Leanna turned back to him. "Ah, don't worry about that too much. I don't want everyone to know that my dad is a cross-dresser."

"But I'm not a cross-dresser.", Jareth said.

"Do you have someone who can back that up, or do we just have to take your word for it?", the dragon asked, clearly amused.

Jareth groaned. "Now you've got the dragon doing it too. Why me?"

"Why you? Oh let's think for a minute. Oh, yes. You see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much... the daddy gives the mommy fruit laced with the Fae version of a date-rape drug, and-"

"Yes, Leanna, no details for the people who don't know the story.", Jareth said, rubbing his temples.

"Oh, I'm sure JJ has told Morgan everything."

JJ shook his head. "I haven't told anyone anything.", he said.

Morgan nodded. "Nope, nothing. But where is your mother, Leanna? Shouldn't she be here?"

"Wyndham holds her captive in the tenth kingdom.", Leanna answered, keeping her eyes on her father to make sure he didn't break down.

Morgan choked and her eyes widened. "What?", she breathed. "He... what?"

Leanna looked at her. "What?"

Morgan scowled. "I know the story, though few people do. I guess it wasn't enough he had to go and kill everyone in Neroche, now he's messing with other kingdoms as well."

Jareth shook his head, pink hair swaying slightly, looking a bit to Leanna like a sea of Peptobismol.

"According to Wyndham himself, he hasn't killed the king.", Jareth said.

This seemed to cause Morgan even further shock, because her jaw dropped and a noise like gears grinding together escaped from her throat.

"Are you all right, Morgan?", Leanna asked, eyeing the other girl carefully. "You know, there's this new thing. It's called _breathing_."

Morgan took several deep breaths and shook her head. "Sorry. That's just... not the version of the story I heard. What happened to the queen, then?"

Jareth shrugged. "No one really knows, but she was probably killed along with everyone else."

Leanna nodded. "Yeah. Hell, that might just be another reason he wants Mom."

Jareth nodded. "All the more reason to get her back before he can do something..."

"Perverted?", the dragon suggested.

Jareth nodded. "Yes. I suppose you could call what I'm thinking of 'perverted'."

Leanna shook her head. "I don't think he'd rape her."

Jareth's eyes turned cold. "And why not? She's beautiful, smart, and most certainly knows how to use her fingernails. Damn. My back still stings a little."

Leanna grimaced. "Yeah. We didn't need to hear that, Father."

Jareth grinned. "I'm kidding, Leanna."

Leanna grimaced again. "Still..."

"So... what's her name?", Celeste asked, gesturing towards the dragon.

"Kuldr.", Leanna answered, glancing at the dragon.

Jareth thought for a moment. "It means 'gold'.", he said, looking up at the green dragon's gold eyes.

Leanna nodded. "For her eyes. I just call her 'Kul' for short, though. And she can make gold lightning, too. That's her specialty."

Jareth looked at the dragon with new admiration. "Then her full name is _Kuldr kveykva_."

Leanna shrugged. "I guess."

The door burst open and in walked Toby. Leanna and Jareth both stared at him in shock, and JJ could understand that. They hadn't seen him become who he was. His dirty-blond hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail. His green-gold eyes looked as though he had become a century old in two months. He held his head high and he stood with a straight back. He wore a pair of black denim pants, and his shirt was tight and showed off his toned muscles.

Toby changed drastically when his eyes landed on Leanna. His shoulders sagged from the amount of relief that washed over him, his eyes suddenly shown with unshed tears, and he hugged Leanna tightly.

"Damn you, Leanna.", he muttered.

"Right back at you, Uncle Toby.", Leanna replied. When Toby finally pulled away, Leanna raised an eyebrow. "You've changed.", she said simply.

Toby shrugged. "Had to. JJ and Morgan and Dillon did their best to keep these ruddy Fae at bay, no offense."

"None taken.", Jareth and Celeste replied, almost in unison.

"But they couldn't look after me all the time.", Toby continued. "So I had to learn to keep them at bay myself. And I did."

Leanna shook her head. "I'd feel sorry for the poor fool to cross you on a bad day.", she said.

"Well, then you should feel bad for Alden, Michaelangelo, Clayton, Janine, Ciruelo, and Riddicka.", Toby answered.

Leanna raised an eyebrow. "Bloody hell. I wouldn't be surprised if you could beat Dad by now."

Jareth grinned. "I'm not sure if he's that good, Leanna.", he said.

"He might, now that you don't have your magic to help you out.", she replied, smirking.

Jareth scowled, but didn't comment.

Celeste cleared throat, bringing their attention to her.

"I would very much like it if you all were not in my office.", she said.

With the not-so-subtle dismissal, they all filed out of the headmistress' office. Some of the other students had very watery eyes because of withheld laughter as they walked through the halls. The few who dared to laugh received a glare from Jareth, which really just made them laugh harder. It's kind of hard to have authority when you've got a blue nose and pink hair.

Leanna pulled out a key and opened the door to her room. Once inside, she closed it and summoned extra chairs with a wave her hand.

"Well, sit down.", she snapped. She sheathed both swords and gasped as her magic left her. JJ took her swords and propped them up in the corner.

"Where'd Kuldr go?", Morgan asked, looking out of the window.

"Probably out hunting.", Leanna answered, waving her hand. She collapsed on her bed with a tired sigh. "Damn it. I'm hungry."

"Lunch is in an hour.", Morgan informed her.

Leanna nodded and closed her eyes.

There was a knock on the door, and Toby opened it. A tall guy with shaggy, shoulder length, jet black hair that fell over his face entered. His eyes were one of the palest of blues that JJ had ever seen. He was also one of the most handsome and wanted guys in the Nine Kingdoms.

"Hullo, Dillon.", JJ greeted.

"Hey, JJ.", Dillon repeated. "I heard Leanna was back. I see I heard wrong." His eyes twinkled as he grinned. "Where is she? I don't see her anywhere."

Leanna cracked open an eye. "Who the hell are you?", she asked.

Dillon gasped. "Is that the wind I hear speaking to me?"

Leanna sat up. "Oi! Watch who you're not talking to. Now who the hell are you?"

Dillon grinned. "Name's Dillon. I'm Morgan's brother."

Leanna raised an eyebrow at Morgan. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Well, you weren't around long enough for me to introduce you.", Morgan replied.

Leanna nodded. "True enough. All right, Dillon. As you obviously already know, I'm Leanna."

Dillon nodded. "Of course I know who you are. Everyone does."

Leanna groaned and laid back down. "That makes me feel _so_ much better.", she muttered.

Toby looked over at Dillon. "Dillon, how's that sword coming along?", he asked.

Dillon sat down on a trunk at the foot of Leanna's bed. "All right, I suppose. Might take another couple of days to get it just right."

Toby looked over at Jareth. "Dill's a smith. It's freaky, the amount of swords he can make in just a day."

Jareth tapped his chin lightly. "How many?", he asked.

"Couple hundred.", Dillon answered, grinning proudly.

Jareth nodded. "Impressive. By the way Dillon, thank you."

"For what?", Dillon asked.

"For not mentioning my hair. Or my nose."

"I think you look rather dashing.", Dillon replied, grinning.

"Don't be a suck-up, either. I hate that."

Leanna snorted. "Are you kidding?", she asked. "You love it when people suck up to you."

Jareth nodded. "Scratch that, Dillon. Please, suck up. It's very good for my ego."

"Dillon, don't you dare suck up to him. He's already insufferable enough.", Toby warned.

Leanna shook her head. "Can't imagine what my mother saw in him. Except peaches."

Jareth snorted. "Peaches my Aunt Fanny."

"You don't have an Aunt Fanny."

* * *

Sarah stood shakily in front of the tall, bald man named Wyndham in front of her. She was in his office in one of the towers, and it was just as cold and dark and evil as the dungeons, just like the castle's king.

"My subjects are incredibly stupid sometimes.", Wyndham started quietly.

"Yeah, I know how that can be. You don't spend a month in the Castle beyond the Goblin City without knowing how stupid subjects can be.", Sarah replied.

Wyndham's mouth twisted into an ugly grin, the scar she had given a couple of years ago deepening.

"My dear girl, my subjects thought you were broken and dead when they deposited you on the Goblin King's doorstep.", Wyndham explained. "When I found out you were alive, well, I thought, 'Now, we can't have that, now can we?'." His grin became more of a grimace. "If it takes another five years, I will wear you down and I'll kill you myself.", he snarled.

Sarah shook her head. "They know where I am now. Jareth knows where I am. You won't get away with this.", she hissed.

Wyndham's face twitched with annoyance. "Watch me.", he sneered, and he snapped his fingers and she was suddenly right outside the heavy iron door to the dungeon. Two of Wyndham's creatures grabbed her while two more opened the door, and they threw her in.

"What'd he want?", Miach asked.

"To warn me and explain why he had to capture me again.", Sarah replied.

"Why did he capture you again?"

"Because he didn't do a very good job of killing me last time." Sarah sighed. "How he was able to get through Jareth's defenses is a mystery, though."

"Who is this Jareth you always speak of?"

"I don't always speak about him."

"You talk in your sleep.", Miach explained.

"Oh." Sarah allowed herself a small smiled. "Well, Jareth's the Goblin King."

"Ah. Grateck's old kingdom. I remember the place. The only place that had a labyrinth as a defensive structure."

Sarah nodded. "That's the one. Anyway, Jareth is... well, he's Leanna's father."

Miach chuckled. "I see. And do you love him?"

Sarah snorted. "No, of course not.", she replied sarcastically. "I was only in the middle of getting married to him when Wyndham decided to play wedding crasher."

Miach was silent for a few moments. "I am sorry. I wasn't sure."

Sarah nodded, though she knew he couldn't see her very well in the gloom. "That's all right. I'll get out." Sarah bit her lip. "Miach, you said you can do magic. Why didn't you tell me last time?"

There was a rustle of clothing that sounded like he shrugged. "I suppose I wasn't sure who you were or why you were here."

"And now?"

"I heard the Krug, the creatures out there, I heard them talking. Or more like grunting out barely coherent words, but I was able to piece together a little of what happened." He paused. "Apparently, Wyndham tried to take over the Goblin Kingdom a couple hundred years ago, and the king killed Wyndham's wife."

Sarah covered her mouth with her hand. "I didn't know that. No wonder he wants me." She closed her eyes and sat down on a pile of straw. She felt Miach slide down next to her, and he put a comforting arm around her shoulders that reminded her of the times that Toby used to comfort her.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much.", he said soothingly. "From what you've told me, your daughter could do just about anything she wanted. "

Sarah chuckled. "I suppose. But if she does come, I'll kill her."

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot. She is with child, isn't she?"

Sarah nodded. "I suppose it's been two months now since I've been here, and I was there for a little more than a month, so I suppose that would give her about six more months, give or take a few days."

Miach was silent for a moment before asking, "Sarah, that crystal you showed me... you said Leanna gave it to you, but it didn't work when you tried shaking it..." He trailed off.

"What? Do you have a theory?", Sarah asked.

"You said Leanna was going to Lismor, right?", he asked, and Sarah nodded. "If I remember correctly, Lismor is a magic sink, meaning no magic can be performed within and no magic can be sent into it. If she is there now, I believe that is why your crystal does not work. Perhaps... perhaps you should keep trying every once in a while. She may go visit her father sometimes or something like that."

Sarah nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose you could be right."

"I am very often right.", Miach replied smugly.

"Miach, you don't talk about you much.", Sarah said, changing the subject. "Did you have any kids?"

He was silent for a few moments, then he said, "Yes. I had a son." Sarah waited for him to elaborate, but apparently, he didn't care to.

"What was your wife like?"

He chuckled. "Stubborn, clever, strong, quick on her feet, and very handy with a sword. Trained at Lismor, actually. But I'll eat my hair if I wasn't totally and completely besotted over her."

Sarah turned her face to look at his, or where his would be if it weren't so dark. "Miach?"

"Yes, Sarah?", Miach asked.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course, little one. But don't take my word for it."

She hit him playfully. "Oh, shut up, Miach." Sarah found herself thinking it may be very dark and cold in this place, but here next to Miach, it gave her hope that one day that they would both get out once and for all.

* * *

Okay, just to clear this up now, Miach is a bit like a brother to Sarah, nothing more, I swear it. I expect you would grow a bit close to someone you've been locked up with for five years, wouldn't you, and they are the only ones who are nice to you.

Anyway... weather's nice, huh? Hey, who wants ice cream?!


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Leanna really, _truly_ hated crowds.

The courtyard was quite crowded today, more so than usual, and Leanna found herself wishing that it was like the Goblin Kingdom: the inhabitants were all under three feet tall and easily kicked aside. Unfortunately, her father had been gone for three weeks now, nor did her have the power to grant her wishes, so she wouldn't be seeing any three foot tall people any time soon.

"What's going on?", Leanna asked Dillon as she made it to the front where he was.

"New student.", he answered. "She's coming through the gates now. Your uncle is the one who's been chosen to test her."

Leanna looked at him in surprise. "He was? Huh." Leanna knew Toby had been here for longer than she had, and he had trained a lot harder than most of the other students, but she couldn't help feeling the smallest pangs of jealousy as she watched her mother's brother challenge the new girl.

She had long, honey blond hair that fell to her waist, and her eyes were a kind of hazel blue color. She was shorter than Leanna, but still taller than most girls in the Underground. She carried a rapier and a strange sort of dagger at her hip. It looked like something Leanna had seen once in a sword magazine. Something called a kukri. She'd read it was good for throwing.

She lasted for longer than Leanna thought she would, about three minutes under Toby's ferocius, but not entirely ruthless, form. The girl finally called peace, and she sheathed her rapier and stood up straight.

"My name is Iris.", she said shortly. "My father was King Aaron of Scanra before he died five years ago and my older brother took our father's place."

Leanna brought her fingernails up to inspect them. She had not told her uncle about what she had done to the late king of Scanra. She had not even told her mother. The only ones that knew were Jareth and JJ, and they most certainly did not disapprove. Even if they didn't entirely approve of it, and Leanna had sworn with blood that she wouldn't do it again. Like she actually wanted to. Killing was something she didn't enjoy, and she avoided it when she could.

Leanna wasn't paying attention when the girl, Iris, tapped her, and she jumped.

The first words our of Leanna's mouth were, "I'm hungry."

"What?", Iris asked.

Leanna shook her head. "Sorry. I'm just hungry."

"You sound like me now.", Toby told his niece, and Leanna scowled.

"Dillon, Morgan wants to talk to you about some business with swords or another. She's at the stables.", Leanna told the tall man next to her. Dillon clicked his heels together, inclined his head, and left.

Iris looked after him with curious eyes. "That is Dillon of Lismor?", she asked.

Leanna shrugged. "I just know him as Dillon.", she said. "I don't approve of titles."

Iris looked at her closely. "You are the Goblin King's daughter, are you not?"

Leanna snorted and looked at her uncle. "I can't believe how these people talk. They're so... old-fashioned."

Iris looked a little confused. "How would you expect me to talk?"

Leanna shrugged. " 'Aren't you the Goblin King's daughter' would've been fine."

Iris sniffed. "At least I have a sense of propriety."

"Surprised you have a sense of anything, Your Cluelessness."

Toby grabbed Leanna by the arm and pulled her away before Iris figured out what she meant.

"You shouldn't be picking fights, Leanna.", he hissed at her. "I know that potion is good, but I don't think it'll work if you're dead."

"You really think she'd last a minute against me?", Leanna demanded, pulling away and looking back at Iris. She actually looked a little hurt, and Leanna was sorely tempted to apologize. But her pride overwhelmed her and she passed the momentary pity off as temporary insanity.

"No, I don't, but I still don't think it's a good idea for you to be fighting.", Toby answered her.

Leanna shook her head. "I wasn't going to fight her, anyway. I didn't like her father much, and neither did Dad, so it's only natural for me to not like her."

"You sound like those politicians you hate so bloody much.", Toby said quietly.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "I do? Oh, gods, I do. Damn it." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "All right.", she said finally. "I'll talk to her tomorrow, after she's settled in a bit. I'll try to make all right with her."

Toby nodded. "Good girl. You deserve a treat." He grinned as they walked across a walkway and onto the seventh floor. They walked down the corridoor quite a ways before pushing aside a tapestry depicting a tall woman with long brown hair and a man with black hair and pale blue eyes. The woman wielded two blades, a sword and a long knife, each with flowers and vines etched into the blade. The man had blue fire in one hand and a sword in the other, the blade ablaze with bright red light. They each had small, subtle circlets on their heads, claiming them as royalty, and by the looks of it, extremely powerful magic royalty. Beyond the tapestry was a narrow, spiral staircase headed up.

"The tower?", Leanna asked in surprise. Toby nodded and headed up. Leanna followed. "I thought only you and JJ were allowed up here?"

Toby shrugged. "What the headmistress doesn't know won't hurt her.", was his response, and Leanna grinned.

They came to a rather old-looking wooden door. Toby took out an iron key and unlocked a padlock on the door, then pushed the door open.

As Leanna walked over the threshold, she gasped and doubled over as her magic came rushing back into her.

"Damn it.", she muttered breathlessly. "I hate it when that happens."

JJ was hanging upside down in the air in the middle of the room, his favorite thinking position. There was a new addition to this position, however, for this time he was spinning around slowly. He had his arms crossed. His hair was the only thing being affected by gravity, trying desperately to touch the ground, though failing miserably seeing as every precious strand was attached to JJ's head.

"Thinking again?", Leanna asked as she pulled up a chair up to his spinning head.

He grinned at her. "Always, love.", he answered.

Leanna rolled her eyes. "Of course." She gave him a short upside-down kiss before standing up and walking over the the huge, gold-framed mirror with ancient writing going all the way around it. "What is this thing?", she asked, peering at it.

JJ put his hands against the floor and pushed, propelling himself into a backflip and landed on his feet. He shook himself like a dog, then turned to face her.

Leanna raised an eyebrow. "Lim-ber.", she commented, then frowned. "But then, I already knew that."

Toby stuck his finger in his mouth and gagged.

Leanna rolled her eyes.

JJ grinned and put an arm around her waist then gestured to the mirror and said, "This is the Portal, as Stefan and Headmistress Celeste put it. Apparently, you can reach in and pull out whatever you desire."

Leanna thought for a moment. "So, if my dad reached into it-"

JJ shook his head cutting her off. "Fae can't do it.", he answered.

Leanna cocked her head to the side. "What about Stefan?"

"He's not Fae.", Toby answered. "He's human, just with an extended life. He's one of the descendants of the few humans that were left from the tenth kingdom."

JJ nodded. "These guys lived from 200 to 300 years old, some of the really powerful ones even up to 500 years."

Leanna gaped at him. "So humans used to _really live_ down here?", she asked, and they nodded. "And they had _magic_?" They nodded again. Leanna laughed softly and ran her fingers through her hair, another habit she'd found she had inherited from the Goblin King. "I really should read more of those books."

JJ grinned, then turned away from them and patted a table, gesturing to Toby.

"C'mon, Uncle Toby, I wanna look at your leg.", JJ said.

Toby glared at him. "I told you not to call me that.", he growled, but he did as he was told. Leanna followed.

JJ pulled up the leg of Toby's brown leather pants to reveal a gap between Toby's ankle and his knee. Leanna did a double-take. An ankle?

"Am I finally going bonkers, or did the gap there grow smaller?", Leanna asked, bending down slightly to look closer at it. Where there had just been a foot before there was now a foot and an ankle, though the part where it had actually been severed hadn't grown any.

JJ nodded. "Yup. Been doing that for the past... almost three months now.", he answered her.

"Huh.", was all Leanna said.

Toby grinned. "By the time I have a nephew-", Toby started, but Leanna raised an eyebrow, and he said, "-or niece, it should've all grown back."

"Why do you suppose it's doing that?", JJ asked Leanna.

Leanna raised an eyebrow. "You, the all-knowing, all-seeing archmage, don't know?", she asked sarcastically.

JJ stared at her for a few seconds before saying simply, "No."

Leanna shook her head, then propped her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this place in a magic sink.", Leanna said thoughtfully after a few moments of silence. "I mean, he isn't used to this magic-wrought enviroment, so perhaps the magic sink is where he adapts better." Leanna shrugged.

"If that's the case, I shouldn't be staying up here.", Toby said. "It'll grow back faster won't it?"

JJ nodded slowly. "I believe so. If that is, in fact, the case." JJ grinned at Leanna. "Have I ever mentioned how incredibly brilliant you are, love?"

Leanna shook her head smirking. "JJ, you really should stop sucking up. I may blush, and that would ruin my whole reputation."

Toby snorted. "You guys are weird.", he said, hopping off the table.

Leanna bowed. "Thank you, thank you. No applause." JJ applauded anyway.

"I'll talk to the headmistress about your leg tomorrow, Toby.", he said, then beckoned to Leanna with a finger. "You're gonna love this."

He walked over to the table that was opposite them, all the way at the far wall, where something was covered with a sheet. JJ put a finger to his lips before he whipped off the sheet with a flourish. Leanna found her mouth hanging open. On a wooden stand was one of the most beautiful swords she had ever seen. There were vines and flowers etched into the blade. She'd seen that somewhere before.

"That woman on the tapestry outside the tower...", Leanna started, pointing at the sword. "She had a sword just like that one."

JJ cocked his head to the side and nodded. "You're right." He shrugged. "But the headmistress has so many royal trinkets... She even has a painting done by Jareth."

As odd as it may or may not sound, one of the Goblin King's favorite past times was painting... even if he wasn't the _best_ at it.

"One of the good ones or one of the bad ones?", Leanna asked.

JJ scratched his head. "One of the good ones, I think. I'm not sure."

Leanna crossed her arms. "I hope it's not one of his self-portraits.", she grumbled. "Who would want _that_ above a mantle?"

* * *

"A little to the right, Miach.", Sarah said, her hand just out of reach of the nearest grates on the ceiling of the dungeon. Miach shuffled slightly, and Sarah grabbed onto the grate, pulling herself up so she could into the room above it. And she didn't like what she saw.

She gagged and Miach hastily set her down.

"What happened? What'd you see?", he asked.

"Um, I saw a restroom... uh, filled with those creatures.", Sarah answered.

When Miach spoke again, his voice was slightly high-pitched, and she could tell he was fighting to hold back laughter.

"Maybe we should... try another one.", he said.

Sarah scowled at him. "It isn't funny.", she huffed. "It was actually rather disturbing."

Miach snickered.

"Do you laugh at everything that amuses you?", Sarah asked in frustration.

"Well, that's general idea.", Miach shot back.

Sarah sighed, but grinned too. "Then I suppose I can laugh about how you drool in your sleep."

Miach crossed his arms. "I don't drool."

"You do too."

Through the dim light shining through the grate above them, she saw him stick his tongue out at her.

"Oh, grow up, Miach.", Sarah muttered.

Miach grinned. "I absolutely refuse to do so. If we grow up, then we'll start to rationalize all of this, and then we won't have anymore fun."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Fun?"

Miach shrugged. "The last five years have been the best I've had in over a millenia."

Sarah sighed. "I'm sorry, Miach. I keep forgetting it's only been you down here for long before I was put here."

Miach wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Ah, Lady Sarah. You've grown to be like a sister to me. And that means a lot, because I've never had a sister." He began to count on his fingers. "When they were alive, I had six brothers."

Sarah looked up at him. "You had six brothers?"

Miach grinned. "Yeah. My parents enjoyed themselves immensely, so I suppose that would be the main reason."

Sarah shook her head. "You know, you remind me so much of _my_ brother."

Miach stroked his beard. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?", he asked.

Sarah grinned. "A good thing. Definitely a good thing."

* * *

And that's it for Chapter 7. Since I'm trying to make up for the events that took place in Chapter 4, I will go ahead and let you guys know that the climax when Sarah is rescued will be about Chapter 10 or 11.

Jareth: *muttering* Need to do it now.

Lp: Hey! I'm the author, I'm pissed, I just gotta outta school, and I am armed. Don't mess with me... and get back to work!

Jareth: Hey, fuss at Leanna! She's the one sneaking JJ in here every night.

Lp: *rolls eyes* She's your daughter. You go fuss at her.

Jareth: She's your character.

Lp: And your busy.

Jareth: Doing what?

Lp: Cleaning the lovely jam from between my reviewers' toes!

Jareth: ... Don't review.

Lp: Don't listen to him! Review, review, review!!!... please?


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

JJ was leaning up against the wall of the lists, watching Toby duel. Over the past few months, Toby had been becoming almost as fast and agile as Fae, pushing himself to his physical and emotional limits. JJ wouldn't be surprised if Toby sprouted magic powers and started shapeshifting. And it was worrying JJ.

JJ had become very good friends with his wife's uncle, and Toby's recent behavior was perplexing JJ like JJ had never been perplexed before. Toby didn't talk to them much anymore. It was worrying Leanna double since her hormones were acting up again.

There was a clatter as Toby's opponent's sword skidded across the cobbled stones. The two blurs that were the duelers stopped, and JJ was slightly surprised to see Iris of Scanra standing there, breathing even harder than Toby. JJ supposed he shouldn't have been surprised at all, though. She was about the only person Toby spent any real time with these days.

Toby an Iris bowed.

"Well fought, Lady Iris.", Toby complimented in a rather deep voice that he had only recently acquired.

Iris smiled. "Obviously not well enough, though.", she replied.

Toby shook his head. "No, you did great. I'm just better than most."

Iris nodded. "Yes. And you won." She crossed her arms. "So, now I have to give you something."

Toby's forehead scrunched up. "What do you mean?"

Iris shrugged. "It's customary, after a duel, that the loser has to give up something to the winner."

"An _official_ duel.", called one of lads watching.

Toby shook his head. "Nah, it's cool.", he said. "You don't have to give me anything, unless you really want to, really."

Iris nodded. "I feel... obligated."

Toby shrugged. "Okay." And Iris jerked him toward her by the collar of his shirt and _kissed_ him, getting several wolf whistles from the watching crowd. When Toby pulled back, he said, "Well, it took you long enough to decide we should bring our relationship out in the open."

JJ felt his mouth fall open. How long had _this_ been going on? More importantly, why didn't Leanna know? Surely, one of them would've been afraid Leanna would find out, especially in her... fragile state. Unless...

JJ spun around to face Leanna, who was leaning against the wall about three feet behind him. How he knew she would be there, he didn't know. He just... _knew_.

"You knew they were seeing each other.", he accused, pointing a finger at her. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

Leanna pushed away from the wall and crossed the distance between them in two steps.

"I don't have to tell you everything.", she hissed in his face.

"You always have in the past.", JJ pointed out.

"But Uncle Toby didn't _want_ you to know.", Leanna replied, her eyes ablaze.

JJ scowled. "Your uncle is one of my best friends, and I think I have a right to know."

"He didn't want you to know."

"Why?", JJ hissed. It probably was not the smartest thing to do, angering the Princess of the Goblin Kingdom, but JJ didn't give a damn. It wasn't smart to anger him, either.

"Plausible deniability.", answered a familiar voice from behind JJ. JJ turned to find Toby standing there... and Iris was holding his hand.

"Why would I need plausible deniability?", JJ asked.

"Because out of the two of you, you're the worst liar.", Toby answered. "And when Jareth asks you guys if you knew before now, Leanna can lie, because she does it all the time." Leanna scowled. "Well, it's true. Anyway, when he asks you, you can say you didn't without lying and giving away the fact that we all knew but him and didn't tell him."

"Yeah. He wouldn't like that.", Leanna said.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "I thought we liked whatever he didn't like."

Her mismatched eyes darkened. "He doesn't like that my mother's gone.", she said quietly.

JJ wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. "I'm sorry, love.", he whispered in her hair.

Toby shook his head. "Every time you guys have a fight, you're always so nice to each other afterwards, it's pathetic."

JJ pointed a finger at him. "Wait until _you_ get married. You'll agree with everything your wife says just so she won't tear off your head."

Leanna's eyes lit up. "Now, there's an idea.", she said thoughtfully, and JJ ran with Leanna hot on his heels.

* * *

Jareth glared at the thing in his hand. It was an evil little thing. But it would not defeat the Goblin King. It was no more powerful than him. It was weak. It was... inanimate.

The stupid, stubborn crystal wouldn't show him what he wanted and it was irritating him. Of course, he knew where what he wanted to see was. The tenth kingdom, probably the dungeons at the castle. He just wanted to know if she was still alive.

"I'm am not going to get on my knees and beg, damn you!", Jareth shouted at it.

Five minutes later, the evil thing was sitting on the desk, seemingly innocent, and Jareth was on his knees in front of it, hands folded, shouting "There. You happy? Now do what I say!" The crystal remained blank. He stood and went over to the window. He had to force Sarah from his mind with great difficulty, knowing she would call Leanna with that crystal of hers with the time was right. Jareth allowed himself a small smile. Leanna had no idea he knew about that. His thoughts did an almost complete 180 as they turned toward his daughter. He started counting on his fingers. Four months to go. Five months since her mother had come back. Five months since she had become with child. Four months since she had been married. And four months since her mother had been taken yet again. (AN: I think I did the math correctly. Dunno. I've always sucked at math.)

He ran his fingers through his hair. He had to find something to kick. He strode out of his study and marched though the corridors to his throne room. It was teeming with goblins, drinking and gambling. He snarled, and kicked at them, imagining each one was Wyndham's bald, fat head. He couldn't remember the last time he had kicked a few goblins, and it gave him a kind of grim satisfaction to do so. After a few moments, after they realized some of them were flying out of the window, they were lining up to kicked out. And they would come right back to the throne room for some more. They were like cockroaches.

* * *

_Damn, these things are like cockroaches_, was the first thought that went through Leanna's mind when 2... hundred of the things showed up outside her door almost three months later, and very early in the morning. She had tried everything to make them go away, even kicking them out of the window. That just seemed to make them want to stay all the more. It was her own fault, really. She just _had_ to sleep with her swords. (Yes, she slept with her swords. So what?) It was the only reason they'd been able to get there.

Headmistress Celeste wasn't amused by the unwelcome visitors either. They kept playing around with her "royal trinkets" as JJ put it, and she didn't like it one bit. A couple even managed to bite some huge chunks in the painting Jareth had given her, which thankfully _wasn't_ a self-portrait.

The only ones who seemed to be having any fun was JJ and Toby, who gladly kicked at them and played with them to their hearts content.

Leanna finally lost her cool when one popped up in the evening... while she was trying to take a bath. It begged her to kick him. She did him one better. She took hold of the Dragon Sword and zapped the annoying thing, sending it to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, deciding she would be _too_ much like her father if she sent them to the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Leanna quickly got dressed and ran through the halls, zapping every goblin she could find and sending them to the castle.

* * *

About an hour later, at supper, there was a loud bang from the entrance hall, and everyone jumped. A very wet and bedraggled-looking Goblin King strode into the Great Hall. The utterly angry expression on his face made everyone gulp loudly, even Leanna, so that it sounded like a giant, invisible frog had gotten loose and croaked.

He stopped right in front right in front of Leanna, staring down at her with no emotion.

"I was in the library, later than usual.", he started tonelessly. "I was looking up destructive spells, powerful ones that had not been used in centuries. My eyes started getting heavy. I nodded off briefly before waking myself back up, and I decided I needed a little nap. I took the long walk, up four bloody floors, and opened the door to my bedroom. And guess what I found."

Leanna shook her head.

"Two hundred goblins had managed to destroy my bed, my floor, my books, and they had overflowed my bathtub, my sink, and my bloody toilet. I slipped and got drenched." He leaned in closer and hissed, "Now, I wonder who would've done that."

Leanna thought of the first thing that came to her mind. "Daffy Duck?", she offered.

Jareth gripped her arms. "I think not, little girl.", he hissed.

Leanna sighed. "Look, they came here, annoying me. All I did was send them back. I didn't know where they'd end up. It wasn't _planned_."

"Right, because all of your other pranks 'weren't planned'?", he growled.

Leanna looked up at him in shock. "I'm telling the truth."

"You're a very good liar, my daughter. Why should I believe you?"

Leanna looked down. "You hate me now, don't you?"

Jareth felt his mouth fall open, and he found himself at a loss for words. "Hate you?", he finally asked in surprise. "Why would I hate you?"

Leanna rubbed a hand over her face. "I didn't mean to, and I don't give a damn if you don't believe me. It's the truth."

Jareth stood up straight, still staring down at his daughter in shock. Leanna looked around at the Great Hall.

"Dad, people are staring.", she murmured.

Jareth looked around and found she was right. He looked around at his daughter, using his Gift this time, looking at the things that made her happy. He saw JJ and her mother and Morgan and Toby... and himself. And he did see that she was telling the truth, because she wanted so much that he trust her.

Jareth sighed and closed his eyes.

"All right.", he said, and Leanna's head snapped up. "I trust you, Leanna."

"You do?", Dillon asked in surprise.

Toby snickered, and Iris, who was sitting next to him, told him to shush.

"Who're you?", he asked her.

"Um, Dad, that's uh..." Leanna started but she trailed off.

"What?"

"That's Iris. Um, the late... King Aaron's daughter.", Leanna finished.

Jareth stared down at her before looking at Iris. "Well, the next time you speak to your brother, tell him I send my best wishes.", he said. Leanna gaped up at him.

"Wow, the Goblin King can let go of grudges. Now I've seen everything.", she said in shock.

"Well, it's not everyday you get to make alliances with kingdoms.", he said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, especially for you.", Leanna said. Jareth scowled.

"Leanna, I will take that lovely ring your wearing there and shove it up your husband's-"

JJ stood up quickly and got in between them.

"Now, I told you two to stop fighting.", he scolded.

Leanna shook her head. "JJ, we stopped fighting ages ago."

"Well what do you call this?", he asked.

Leanna tapped her chin for a moment before grinning. "A friendly rivalry."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "We're friends, now, are we? What happened to 'fish-face'?"

"Dad, I haven't called you fish face in... four years." Jareth's eyebrow went even higher. "Oh, all right, 2 years." Both eyebrows went up. "A year?" Jareth crossed his arms over his chest. "6 months?" Jareth shook his head. Leanna sighed in irritation and stomped her foot. "Oh, fine, so I called you that just this morning! So what?"

Jareth nodded and patted her on the head, a little awkwardly. "Good to see your back to normal." He looked around. "Now what was with the tombstone outside?" There was much snickering, and Leanna shuffled a little. He sighed. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?", he asked sternly.

Leanna bit her lip. "Yeah, actually, I did. I... I... I killed a moth.", she replied. Okay, so maybe she wasn't back to normal. Jareth knew he looked like a fool with his mouth hanging open. Of course, it was more to hide his amusement than anything.

"You... you gave a moth a funeral?", he asked, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

She nodded solemnly, then glared up at him.

"It's not funny!", she said indignantly. "Moths have hearts too, you know."

"Oh, oh, yes. How tragic.", Jareth said seriously. "One less bug in the world to eat a whole in my clothes. Such a pity." He sighed at the look on Leanna's face. "Would you like me to... say a few words to it?" She smiled brightly and walked out of the room. Jareth followed, thinking to himself, _Even if she lives though this, I sure as hell won't_. **(A/N Poor Jareth. *shakes head*)**

* * *

Later on, Leanna was sitting in Lismor's vast library, thumbing through books, looking for anything that might help her mother. The appearance of her father had suddenly kickstarted her into the task. There was something nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn't place it.

There was shuffling in between the shelves, and the leathery face of Hoggle appeared in the gap between two books. She sat up straight.

"How'd you get here?", she asked.

"Jareth sent me, Your-, um, Leanna.", Hoggle answered, knowing how severely pissed off Leanna got when someone called her by her title. "Said I might be able to help you."

Leanna sighed and sat back. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she knew his intentions were good and not just to annoy her. He cared for her, but for some reason, she refused to believe it. She supposed she was still in denial about the whole 'was my mother willing' thing. Even though said mother had said that even if she wasn't then she most certainly was now. Which just made Leanna a bit sick to her stomach to think of _that_. She still got sick when she thought about the time she walked in on her grandparents. She couldn't imagine how she would be scarred if she walked in on her parents. She shuddered and turned back to Hoggle, trying to shove disturbing mental images from her mind.

"Thanks, Hig-, uh, Hoggle.", she winced. "Sorry, but I've been spending too much time with... Jareth." It had been a long time since she had used his name to refer to him. "Anyway, thanks for the offer Hoggle, but I think this is something I need to do on my own."

Hoggle shuffled around to her side of the bookshelf, hesitated a moment, then covered her smooth hand with his rough, leathery one.

"Sarah'll be all right.", he said in a fatherly tone. "You'll see."

Leanna grinned at him. "I know Hoggle."

Hoggle started to walk off, but before he disappeared around the corner of the book shelves, he looked back at her and said, "If you need me, for... um, any reason at all... just call." And he walked out just as Jareth walked in.

"I see Hoggle found you.", Jareth said. When he got no response, he said, "I summoned him from the tower, in case you were wondering."

Leanna looked up at him and grinned. "Where else would you have summoned him in this place Jareth?", she asked, shaking her head and looking back at her book.

Jareth frowned. "Are you... angry at me for some reason I don't know about?"

She looked up in surprise. " 'Course not, Jareth."

Jareth opened his mouth, then closed it against. He hesitated, then said, "But you never call me Jareth anymore unless you're really angry at me."

Now Leanna frowned. "What? No, no, I've always called you Jareth."

Jareth turned to walk away when he heard a gasp behind him and a blur suddenly flew past him, knocking him into the nearest bookshelf and pushing it over, causing a domino effect on the other bookshelves. He gulped and ran off after the blur he was sure was his daughter before he got into trouble with the Headmistress. He winced at the thought. The woman was quite formidable.

Leanna disappeared behind the tapestry opened up to the staircase that led up to the tower. Before following her, Jareth decided to enroll some help. He made his way out of the castle and made his way to the stables, which were out on the grounds. He knew JJ would be there. Sure enough, JJ was brushing his white mare, the one Jareth had given him almost seven years ago.

Jareth wasted no time with talk. He grabbed JJ and pulled him away so fast, the brush was still hanging in the air about 5 seconds afterwards.

When they made it to the tower, the window was wide open. Kul had somehow made it in (she had grown nearly another five feet in the past few months), and she was curled around Leanna, who was holding her knees to her chest. Her eyes were wide and wild-looking, and she was whispering something.

"C'mon, Mom. Use it, use it. C'mon Mom. Use it, use it...", was what Jareth heard. He reached out to her, but JJ slapped his hand away and shook his head, then pointed at the door. When they were standing a few steps down the staircase, JJ spoke.

"She'll be all right by morning.", he said.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Something like this has happened before then?", he asked.

JJ nodded. "Yes, it has. And before you ask, she didn't want you to know. What with the way you were after Sarah disappeared the first time, she didn't want to put something else on your shoulders." Jareth let his shoulders sag and he looked down.

"I shouldn't have done that.", he said softly. "She probably thought I didn't give a damn."

"She didn't want you to give a damn anymore than you already did.", JJ said. He took a deep breath. "When she gets like this, she won't let anyone touch her. Trust me, she'll be fine by morning. Jareth looked at the door, and JJ could see the deep and genuine worry in his eyes and in the lines on the Goblin King's face. After a few moments, Jareth nodded slowly and reluctantly trudged down the stairs.

JJ rubbed a hand over his face and walked back into the room. He sat down nest to his wife, careful not to touch her, and pressed his back against Kul. In a few minutes she had fallen asleep. Kul wrapped herself tighter around them as JJ waited for it to start.

He didn't have to wait long as Leanna started to talk in her sleep:

"_I was a skinny tomboy kid_

_who walked down the streets_

_with my fists clenched into_

_tight balls._

_I knew all the roofs_

_and backyard fences,_

_I liked traveling that way_

_sometimes not touching_

_the sidewalks_

_for blocks and blocks_

_it made me feel_

_victorious somehow_

_over the streets_

_I liked to fly_

_from roof to roof_

_the gravel_

_falling away beneath my feet_

_I like the edge_

_of almost not making it_

_And the freedom_

_of riding my bike_

_to the ocean_

_and smelling it_

_long before I could see it,_

_and I traveled_

_disguised as a boy,_

_I thought,_

_in a leather jacket_

_carrying my guitar_

_and plucking the strings_

_and drinking Coke_

_and writing my own solos_

_sometimes and_

_playing them_

_on the corner_

_and I'd give my heart_

_a rest_

_I didn't care_

_what people thought_

_of my playing_

_I just liked to play._

_And I vowed_

_to never grow up_

_to be a woman_

_and be helpless_

_like my mother_

_but then I didn't realize_

_the kind of guts_

_it often took_

_for her to just keep standing_

_where she was._

_I grew like a thin, stubborn weed_

_watering myself whatever way I could_

_believing in my own myth_

_transforming my reality_

_and creating a legendary-self._

_Every once in a while_

_late at night_

_in the deep_

_darkness of my sleep_

_I wake_

_with a tenseness in my arms_

_and I follow it_

_from my elbow to my wrists_

_and realize_

_my fists are tightly clinched_

_and the streets come grinning_

_and I forget who I'm protecting_

_and I coil up_

_in a self-mothering way_

_and tell myself_

_it's okay."_

JJ took a deep, shuddering breath as Leanna started to repeat the poem again. And again. And again. He lost count somewhere around 57 of the times she'd repeated the poem, and every word made JJ's forearm, and his heart, hurt a little more and more. He winced before finally, despite the fact she could kill him, he wrapped arms around Leanna. She struggled against him in her sleep for the next couple hours, kicking and pushing and biting, before she finally settled down. She was shaking violently, but even that stopped after a while. Her breathing became regular, and JJ sighed with relief. Her sleep had become blessedly peaceful. Well... maybe not so peaceful, for after a half hour, JJ's shirt had become soaked with her tears. And blood was starting to seep through the sleeve of his shirt.

As the pale light of the early morning started to pour through the open window, soaking into Kul's emerald scales and warming JJ's back, Leanna stirred in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open and looked up at him. She sighed and laid her head on his chest.

"It happened again, didn't it?", she whispered.

JJ nodded. "Aye, it did."

"All I remember was... remembering about the crystal I'd give Mom.", she started. "And that I had to be up here for it to work."

JJ nodded again.

"JJ?", Leanna said softly.

"Yes, love?", JJ asked.

She pressed her face against his chest and clutched at the front of his shirt. She was silent for a few moments before saying four words that damn near broke JJ's heart: "Please don't leave me."

* * *

And that is the end of Chapter 8. I have the feeling that the farther along I get, the more serious and sentimental the story gets, and I HATE it. I enjoy reading serious stories, but I HATE writing them. It is not my area of expertise. Anyway, sorry for those of you who like the Sarah things at the end, but there is a very important Sarah thing next chapter so that oughta be good.

Leanna: I hate showing emotion.

Jareth: You and me both, kid.

Leanna: *makes face* PLease don't say that.

Jareth: *rolls eyes* Lp, why'd you have to write me a daughter that hates me.

Lp: She doesn't hate you.

Jareth: Could've fooled me.

Leanna: *muttering* And me.

Jareth: What?

Leanna: Nothing!


	10. Chapter 9

**I am so sorry for taking so long to review. I've been RPing a lot lately and talking to my best friend in the entire world quite a bit... and school has been a nightmare... but here is Chapter 9, and I hope the length of this makes up for its lateness. And that poem, in the last chapter, wasn't mine. It was written by a lady named Alma Luz Villanuaeva, and it's called "I was a Skinny Tomboy Kid". I found it in my Literature textbook. I did redo some of it though. That whole part about her playing the guitar was originally all about fishing, so...**

**Chapter 9**

Leanna wouldn't come out of the tower for two straight weeks. The only ones she would even let in there were JJ and Morgan. Sometimes, she'd let Toby in, but most often, she seemed especially intent on keeping him out. Morgan suspected that it had more to do with his leg than anything.

And Jareth kept getting in the way. You could always count on him finding some way into the room. How, Morgan had no idea, and Jareth wasn't revealing his secrets anytime soon. It was at these times, though, Leanna got truly angry and would shout at Jareth to get the hell out before she shoved a goblin with bog problems up his... Well... Those was Leanna's words, not Morgan's.

JJ and Morgan had taken to keeping guard outside the door at night when she slept... or didn't sleep. She seemed especially nervous at night. Morgan was positive the girl hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in the past two weeks.

It was on one of these such nights that the reason for the princess of the Goblin Kingdom's actions finally came to a head.

Morgan leaned against the door, trying to see JJ through the darkness but failing.

"Has she ever done this before?", Morgan asked.

She heard JJ sigh. "Driven her self to the brink of insanity worrying about her mother?", he asked. She heard him shift slightly. "Yes. She has. Only this time, she isn't trying to contact her mother. She's waiting for her mother to contact her."

Morgan nodded. "Jareth explained the business with the crystal to me.", Morgan said.

JJ snorted. "He still doesn't know that we know that he knows about the crystal." Morgan could here the grin in his voice. "That's much more hilarious than him not knowing at all."

Morgan grinned. "You two love to irritate him, don't you?"

"Are you kidding? We live for it!" JJ let out a laugh.

Morgan smirked. "Shouldn't you also live for your child as well?"

Silence for a few moments. "You know, Leanna suspected you knew.", he said finally.

Morgan swore. "You can't keep much of anything from her, can you?"

"There isn't much she doesn't notice. Especially when you've had to live like her." There was a pause. "Um, I mean, uh..."

"I wasn't supposed to hear that?", Morgan asked.

"Um, no." JJ sighed. "She spent a lot of her childhood learning how to read people by what they _didn't_ say or what they _didn't_ do. And more often than not, she was right."

"So what happened? I mean, was she picked on a lot Aboveground?"

"Yeah. She was. But not a one of them ever touched her."

"Why not?"

"Because her father really does care for her. She has no idea how many times he looked out for her. And he's asked me not to say."

"Why not?"

"Because he's just as stubborn as his daughter. And as proud."

Morgan scoffed. "Do you think they'll ever get over themselves enough to admit that they really care about each other?"

"Oh yes. I most certainly do. They have to in order to save Sarah."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

JJ waved a hand airily. She only knew because he almost hit her up side the head. "Meaning they'll have to work together as a family to save her."

Morgan shook her head. "I still don't get it."

She heard him shift in the darkness. "Think of it this way: if they don't trust each other enough as father and daughter-"

"-they're never gonna get past Wyndham's front gate.", Morgan finished for him. She shook her head. "Sarah is doomed."

JJ shook his head. "No, she's not."

Morgan's mind started to drift in the following silence, back a long time ago, when she was having a similar conversation with someone else. Gods, that had been so long ago. And now here was her chance to-

"Morgan?", JJ said suddenly.

"Hm?', Morgan replied, jolted from her reminiscing.

"When did you first start to wield a sword?", JJ asked.

Morgan bit her lip. That was so long ago. She thought for a few, then answered, "I was almost ten."

JJ snickered. "Two years before Leanna. She won't be happy to hear that." He yawned. "So how'd that happen?"

Morgan gulped. She had never shared much of her true history with anyone. "I... was orphaned when I was very young. Mercenaries took me in when I was six, and they taught me first. Then I was dropped off here."

JJ sighed. "Morgan, I'm married to a professional liar, and _you_ are _not_ my wife. Even _I_ can tell you aren't telling the _whole_ truth."

Morgan snorted. "Nobody is as good a liar as your wife."

"Jareth comes dangerously close." JJ paused for a moment as he yawned again. "So what's the whole story?"

Morgan pursed her lips, but before she got a chance to answer, there was a crash from the room. They scrambled to their feet and opened the door. Five goblins appeared in the room and had appeared right on top of Leanna, who had crashed in a bookshelf, which had crashed into the table with over a hundred vials of the clear potion. And now the floor was wet, as was a viciously swearing Leanna, who was still lying on the floor, with goblins, lying in a daze on top of her.

"Get off of me, you morons!", she roared, and they scrambled off of her and stood up. JJ helped Leanna up, grinning. "What are you smiling at?"

"You're beautiful when you're angry.", JJ replied, his grin widening.

"Damn shame too.", Leanna muttered grumpily and turned to glare at the goblins. "You bunch of nitwits.", she growled. "Did you ever get what I asked for?"

The goblins scrambled over to the mess and went digging though it. They came up with 5 half-gallon buckets of vanilla ice cream and 7 large bottles of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "You got the goblins to steal for you?", she asked.

JJ picked up one of ice cream, took off the top, conjured a crystal spoon, and dug in.

"Sure.", he said, voice thick due to the ice cream in his mouth. He swallowed. "They're gonna do it anyway. Why not put it to your advantage?"

Leanna nodded. "Yeah, we've been doing it for years.", she added.

An hour later, goblins had shown up with several buckets of Chinese food, Mexican food, countless cheesecakes, and too many bags of chips to even begin counting. There had also been several 2 liter bottles of Coke and Dr. Pepper they had brought, not to mention the breadsticks from Olive Garden that Leanna had been especially crazy for. And what she didn't eat, JJ, Morgan, and Dillon, who had arrived not long after they had started their little feast, helped her polish it off. Needless to say, the latter three hardly got enough to make a difference.

Obviously, that clear potion wasn't nearly good enough to cover ALL the side-effects.

* * *

Morgan and Leanna had fallen asleep quite a while ago, and Jareth came in. He looked around at the mess, sighed, and sat down next to JJ and Dillon.

"How is she?", he asked anxiously.

JJ shrugged. "Fine, I suppose.", he answered. "This is probably the only sleep she's gotten in 2 weeks, though."

Jareth groaned and banged his head on the wall. "Why doesn't she trust me JJ?", he asked in exasperation.

"Probably because she doesn't think you trust her.", Dillon answered.

Jareth's eyebrows rose into his bangs so that they could no longer be seen. "Why the hell would she think that?"

JJ shrugged. "She thinks you've never been there before you actually needed her... before you could _use_ her.", he reasoned. "And frankly, I would feel the same way in her position. Really, she chalks it all up to her mother and whether or not she was... What was the word she used... Willing, that's what it was. Whether or not her mother was willing when Ms. Williams was 15. But I can tell she really just wants you to trust and care for her.

"But I do!", Jareth hissed, still not comprehending. "And I never wanted to use her."

JJ shook his head. "You have to prove it."

Realization dawned in Jareth's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by anger. "If she knows, Sarah will find out about the things I did, and she'll be angry."

Dillon scoffed. "Why would she be angry?", he asked.

"Because she didn't want me in Leanna's life.", Jareth answered as if it were obvious.

JJ found himself getting angry. "Bloody hell, Jareth, what does the hell does the past have to do with it?", he hissed. "Sarah is happy you are in her life _now_. Hell, she's probably even happier you're in _her_ life." JJ got right in his face. "You wouldn't know Sarah's love from a goblin wearing leotards and a tutu serenading a horse wearing a party hat, make-up, and fluffy bunny slippers." **(AN: First things that popped into my head.)**

Dillon looked at him in surprise. "What?"

JJ turned to him glaring. " A _goblin_... wearing a _le-o-tard_ and a _tutu serenading_ a _horse_ wearing a _party hat, make-up_, and _fluffy... bunny... slip-pers_."

Dillon cracked up with laughter. "JJ, you have the weirdest imagination ever."

"He gets it from his wife.", Jareth said, then turned his gaze on JJ. "JJ, if you ever insult me like that again, I may just kill you."

JJ shook his head. "No you won't.", he said matter-of-factly.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why not?"

"You may be cruel Jareth, but you're not that cruel." JJ looked him in the eyes. "You see me as a son, and you would never kill me."

Jareth swore. "You spent far too much time talking to your mother-in-law.", he growled.

JJ grinned. "Yeah, you could be right... Daddy."

Jareth laughed out loud. "You've also been spending too much time with your wife."

Dillon frowned in confusion. "Doesn't that kinda come with the job?", he asked.

JJ nodded solemnly. "Aye, Dill, I suppose it does.", he said in a mock-sad tone. "But it can _definitely_ be a good thing."

* * *

Someone was shaking Sarah awake, and she batted at the criminal's hand.

"Ten more minutes, Jareth.", she groaned.

There was a snort. "I hardly think I'm Jareth, Sarah.", came Miach's amused voice.

Sarah cracked open an eye and looked up at him. Light from one of the grates was dimly illuminating his face, and his pale blue eyes were full of good humor.

"You want me to try that bloody crystal again, don't you?", she asked groggily.

"It'd be nice.", he admitted.

Sarah groaned and sat up. Her face was still rather sore from the beating she'd taken yesterday. One eye was swollen shut, her lip was busted and puffy, and one whole side of her face was one big bruise. When she went to rub her eyes, she gasped in pain.

"I told you not to touch it.", Miach scolded. "Stubborn little..."

Sarah sighed. He'd been rather annoying lately, spontaneously waking her up in the middle of the.... was it night now or was it day? She wasn't sure anymore. Anyway, he had been waking her up and kept asking her to try and activate the crystal. Nevertheless, she took out her crystal. She stared at it for a few moments, then gave it a good shake. Nothing happened.

Sarah scoffed. "See?", she asked him in exasperation, holding it up high in the air for Miach to see... and it slipped from her fingers and smashed to the floor. Sarah cried out and scooped the pieces into her hand... only to drop them again, this time in surprise. They had started to glow and vibrate. A noise, that started out as a mere disturbance in the air, gradually grew louder into a low hum. Sarah and Miach both started backing away slowly from the glowing, vibrating, noisy, demented crystal pieces.

Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light as bright as the Sun and, Sarah imagined, nearly as hot. It was so hot, it singed the hair on her arms. Sarah and Miach had to shield their eyes.

When they looked again, the crystal had imploded and taken the form of a very familiar young lady.

"Leanna?", Sarah breathed.

* * *

Leanna had been awake the whole time, really, listening to her father and husband talk about her and her mother. It was a little disconcerting to her that her father still didn't believe Sarah loved him. She'd thought he'd gotten over his denial. Obviously, she didn't know everything. Still more disconcerting was the fact that Jareth could _prove_ to Leanna that he truly cared, but he wouldn't, which Leanna thought was utterly stupid. Oh well. Everyone was stupid some-

Leanna sat bolt upright. Three heads automatically turned toward her in alarm. She couldn't move. She tried to speak, but she couldn't.

_It's been activated_, she thought with a strong sense of relief and anticipation. She didn't know what would happened.

Her head suddenly felt as if it had exploded. She cried out, released from her invisible bonds, and went limp. She heard people calling out to her, felt hands shaking her... but it was so vague, she wasn't sure if any of it was real or not. She coughed up blood, and she felt something stir inside her, but she was too far gone to figure out what it was.

As if a light switch had been thrown, suddenly everything was dark. She felt like she was floating. She wondered vaguely if she were dead.

Then she realized... it wasn't completely dark. There were millions of little stars all around her. Upon closer inspection, she saws that they weren't stars at all. They were actually little crystal pieces that were glowing brightly in a never ending darkness, the very darkness she was floating in.

Leanna knew what this was. This was The Oblivion Field. The place where all magic came from. It had been one of the first things she had learned: Magic had to come from somewhere, and there were only certain people who could draw it from The Oblivion Field. She could feel the magic pulsing in this place... and that magic suddenly shot her forward like a bullet. The crystal pieces swirled around her in a blur of color until suddenly it all disappeared and something completely different took its place...

She was standing in a dungeon cell. Grates in the ceiling above her let in a little light, dim though it was. With her enhanced vision, she could make out the entire cell. There were several piles of straw scattered around. A small set of stairs led up to an iron door... which probably would've harmed the two occupants of the room if they were Fae. They were sitting on the floor in front of her, open mouthed.

"Leanna?", Sarah asked breathlessly.

Leanna felt her insecurities melt away at her mother's voice, and she grinned. "Well, who'd you expect? Harry Potter?", she asked, shaking her head. "Sure, he's great, but far too showy for my taste." Sarah went to speak again, but Leanna shook her head and turned to the scruffy, pale blue-eyed man. "Are you Mochriademiach?", she asked bluntly.

The man stood, and he suddenly didn't look like a poor, scruffy guy. His eyes lit up with a fierce light and he look regal.

"I am.", he answered in a deep, business-like, but not unkind, voice. "I am the true king of Neroche."

Sarah turned her gaping mouth toward him.

"You're the _king_?", she asked in surprise. "You said you were a farmer."

The king sighed. "I told you that because I wanted to be your friend.", he explained. "If you had known who I was, would you have treated me the same?"

Sarah opened her mouth, then closed it and looked down.

The king nodded. "Thought so." He turned to Leanna. "I assume you and your father are planning some sort of rescue mission?"

Leanna smiled wryly. "Actually, my father and I aren't speaking, so it's just me.

Sarah got to her feet, wincing a little. "What happened, Leanna?', she asked, approaching her daughter slowly.

Leanna brought up her fingernails to inspect them, hiding her astonishment that they were crystal... that she was _entirely_ made out of crystal.

"Nothing.", she answered Sarah.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "There has to be a reason you two aren't speaking.''

Leanna sighed. ''Mother, now is not the time-"

"No, now is the perfect time!", Sarah interrupted. She crossed her arms, and sometimes Leanna hated that she got her stubbornness from _both_ sides of her family.

"Mother, I can't last long like this. If I spend... 15 minutes, I could die."

Sarah gulped, then nodded. "All right, we'll... talk about it later."

The king crossed his arms. "I know for a fact that Wyndham didn't change the defense system I set up.", he started. ""Four guards outside the door, and they change every eight hours. Ten guards patrolling the wall-"

"Wait. All of these guys are Krug, right?", Leanna interrupted.

"Well, of course, but... why?"

Leanna scratched her crystal head with her crystal fingers. "Krug are men that are simply altered with magic, right?"

"Yeah...?"

Leanna's eyes lit up and she grinned. "So if I turned them back... would they turn against Wyndham?"

The king nodded. "Yeah, probably. But it would take quite a lot of magic to do so."

Leanna grin shrunk into a smirk. "Not as much as you may think." She nodded. "Okay, I gotta go-"

"Wait.", Miach commanded.

"What is it?"

The king actually looked a little nervous, like Jareth did when Leanna scooted by him with something behind her back.

"Miach, what's wrong?", Sarah asked.

The king (Miach, apparently, was what people called him) shuffled his feet. "Is... Is Morgan at Lismor's?"

Leanna's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Miach breathed a sigh of relief. "Then she's alive?" Leanna nodded slowly. "Oh, thank the gods." He put his head in his hands, and Leanna strongly suspected he was crying.

"What is it you want with Morgan?", Leanna asked carefully.

Miach took a deep breath. "She's my wife.", he answered softly.

Leanna was silent for a few moments. "That,", she started finally, ''explains a lot.'' She rubbed her neck. ''So Morgan's real name is Morghain. And she's the queen." Leanna shook her head, grinning. "Mom, the impossible has happened.''

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You're not afraid of rats anymore?", she asked.

Leanna shuddered. "As much a miracle as that would be, no.'' She smirked. "Someone is a better liar than me."

Sarah nodded. "And here we all were, thinking she was the Bruce Lee of lying."

Leanna snorted, then looked back at Miach. "So you know Dillon, too?''

Miach snorted. "Of course I know Dillon. He's my son."

Leanna shook her head. "How... incestuous." When they both looked confused, Leanna said, "Morgan told us he was her brother."

Miach nodded, then looked up at her. "You should go then."

Sarah walked up to her crystallized daughter and hugged her. "You tell your bloody father that I'm going to be fine.", she hissed.

Leanna sighed. "He won't believe me." And suddenly the crystal became dull once more and Sarah released it. The crystal became a million tiny pieces and it fell to the floor. Sarah sincerely hoped that wasn't a sign.

* * *

Leanna gasped and sat bolt upright. Her forehead crashed into another, and they both cursed.

"Damn it, Leanna.", Jareth swore, rubbing his head. "Why me?"

Leanna simply grunted and turned to Morgan. "You're coming with me.", she told the other girl, getting to her feet. She realized there was something wet and metallic taste in her mouth. Blood. Leanna spit it out in disgust, and JJ handed her some water to wash the taste and any remaining blood out. She swirled some water around in her mouth before spitting it back into the glass. She handed it back to JJ, who took it back by his fingertips, trying to hide the sick look in his face.

Morgan's eyebrows shot up at Leanna's command and she crossed her arms. "Where and why?", she asked.

Leanna grinned. "To Neroche to save your kingdom, Queen Morghain."

Morgan paled visibly and her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

Dillon was the first one to speak. "Then I guess you know I'm not really her brother?", he asked.

Leanna nodded. "You're her son, the prince.", she replied.

Dillon grinned. "You truly do know everything, Your Highness."

Leanna's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she decided now was not the time to commit murder. She looked around. "Where is Uncle Toby?"

Dillon snorted. "Sleeping, probably."

Leanna stood up and headed for the door. "I have to talk to him." Before she could walk out of the door, however, a hand spun her around by her elbow, and she came face-to-face with Jareth. He looked so ancient and tired all of a sudden.

"Are you all right?", he asked quietly.

"Don't worry, Jareth.", was her reply. "I'll get Mom out." She started to turn away again, but Jareth only tightened his grip.

"So." Jareth said carefully. "You think I care more about Sarah than I do about you?"

Leanna stared at him for a few moments, then said, simply and casually, "Yes." She wrenched her arm out of his hold and started out of the door. Once on the staircase, she stumbled when her magic left her, and Jareth steadied her, once again taking a firm hold of her elbow.

"I really don't see your logic in that.", he hissed.

Leanna closed her eyes. "For five years, you didn't give a _damn_ about what happened to me, or JJ.", she said in an even tone.

"That's not true.", Jareth growled. "Half the reason I was depressed was because I was worried about how _you_ were taking it."

Leanna wrenched her arm out of his grip and turned to face him fully. "And you thought avoiding me was the best way to care of it, huh?"

"I thought you just... wanted some space."

"Space?" Leanna let out a wry laugh. "You gave me quite enough space for the first 17 years of my life, thank you very much."

Jareth rubbed his face, the fire gone from his eyes, and Leanna noticed, for the first time, that he really was quite old. "I've always been there for you.", he whispered.

"Prove it.", Leanna spat, but Jareth stayed silent. Leanna scoffed. "I didn't think so." She started down the stairs.

Jareth grumbled for a moment before lunging for her, catching her by the scruff of her neck, and carrying her back into the tower. JJ, Dillon, and Morgan were staring at them.

"You want me to prove it?", Jareth hissed as he put her down and stood in between her and the door. "Fine. I'll prove it." He conjured a crystal and threw it at her. Leanna doubled over as the tower melted away...

* * *

_FLASH_

_Leanna was six years old. She was being chased by a group of fourth grade bullies. She turned down an alley thinking to outsmart them since they weren't very smart anyway. The alley was a dead end, though. The first four bullies, but the last one happened to glance her way. He stopped and called to the others, and they came back and started walking towards her., grinning wickedly. Once the first one got close enough, he grabbed her arm._

_"Maybe if we hit you hard enough, we'll beat one color into those freaky eyes.", he spat and raised his fist. Leanna kicked at him and tried to bite him, but it did no good. The others had joined in now. She snarled at them, but they just laughed._

_Suddenly, they let her go. They were looking above her in fear, then they turned tail and ran. Leanna looked up and gulped. A tall man with wild blond hair was standing over her. He looked incredibly regal and livid as he glared at the retreating boys, but his expression changed drastically when he looked down at her. He looked... concerned. He squatted down beside her and looked her over carefully._

_"Are you all right, love?", he asked in a soft, fatherly tone. Leanna nodded mutely. He chuckled softly, which made Leanna a bit angry._

_"It's not funny.", she snapped, but it only made him chuckled more. Without another word, he picked her up. Leanna blinked, and they were standing in front of her house. The man set her down, then stood up straight, staring at the house. Leanna thought he looked sad, like her mom when she sang. She tugged on his long cape and he looked down at her._

_"Who are you mister?", she asked quietly._

_The man sighed. "A dream, little one.", was his odd answer, and he bent down and kissed her head...._

* * *

_FLASH_

_Leanna was ten years old. She had learned quite a while ago that she could avoid the people who chased her after school by climbing on the roofs and jumping from one to the other._

_And it was fun to race the barn owl that always flew with her._

_She laughed out loud as the owl flew over her head, nipping playfully at her flying hair. It landed on the other side of a big gap between roofs. Leanna skidded to a stop and backed up about ten feet to get a good start. The owl hooted out a warning, and she thought maybe the owl looked amused now more than anything. Could an owl look amused?_

_"I've done it a million times.", she assured the bird. "I'll be fine." She shook her head and took off at lightning fast speed, faster than the fastest boy at her school. As she neared the edge of the roof, she jumped, and she watched the ground, twenty feet below her, fly by.... and then suddenly come rushing towards her. Her chin banged against the edge of the roof, right in front of the owl, who screeched in alarm. She cried out and scrambled for a hold, but found none. She knew she couldn't stop herself._

_But someone else did._

_She looked up. A man with a perfect face and wild blond hair was leaning over the side of the roof, holding her hand. She was getting the strangest feeling of deja vu, like she'd met him before._

_And he had her eyes, which was kind of freaky._

_He hauled her up onto the roof with unnatural strength. She hastily stood up, and the man followed, though a little slower._

_Instead of asking who the hell he was, Leanna asked, "Do I..... know you?"_

_He smiled sadly. "I wish you did.", he replied, then kissed her head softly......_

* * *

_FLASH_

_Leanna stood on the side of the stage, her guitar slung across her back. She took a deep breath, ignoring the person currently on the stage doing a very bad impression of Elvis, singing "Heartbreak Hotel". She peeked out at the crowd. The entire school was there for the talent show, and then some. Why had she let Uncle Toby talk her into this? Why? Oh well. Too late to back out now. Besides, Leanna Williams never backed down from a challenge. She was just as stubborn as her mother._

_Who still wasn't there._

_Leanna bit her lip. Half the reason Leanna had agreed to do this in the first place was because Sarah had said she would be there. She hadn't been at the last three, of course, but Sarah had __**promised **__it would be different this time. Leanna felt tears sting her eyes, but she wiped them away angrily. It was just another stupid competition, right?_

_Leanna caught her Uncle Toby's eye, and he gave her a thumbs up. She smiled a little. He had gone out of his way to get a front row seat just so he could cheer her on. She nodded toward the door, then at the empty seat beside him. Toby frowned and shrugged._

_Someone brushed by her. It was the Elvis guy. Leanna gulped. It was her turn. She took several deep breath. She fiddled with the zipper on the leather jacket she was wearing, then pulled the hood of the gray jacket underneath over her head. She slipped on her sunglasses and walked out onto the stage. The cord trailing after her was pretty much ignored by everyone. Her pick was currently held in between her teeth. She took it and poised it for playing a rock version of a familiar song....._

_Leanna walked out of the back room almost and hour after everyone had left. Just like the last four times, she won the contest. And just like the last four times, her mother hadn't been there to see it. Leanna walked up the short flight of stairs to the stage... but stopped on the last one._

_A tall man with wild blond hair was standing behind the microphone, looking around at the empty gym. He was dresses in a poet's shirt with a black vest over it, and his pants would've made any girl in her class faint at the site of them. She let out a snort, and the guy looked around at her._

_"What's funny?", he asked._

_"Dude, you look __**so**__ gay, it just isn't funny.", Leanna replied shrewdly, smirking slightly and walking onto the stage._

_The man looked down at himself. "Well, I think I look absolutely perfect.", he stated, a smirk of his own twitching at his lips. He looked around the gym once again. "You played very well tonight. And the song you sang was very nice as well. He ran a gloved hand through his hair. "Curious..... where did you learn it?" He sounded sad now, and Leanna got the feeling that she knew him, or should at least._

_"Um, I learned it from my mother.", Leanna answered._

_He turned to face her fully. "Truly?", he asked in a desperate-sounding voice._

_Leanna narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. Why?", she said suspiciously._

_He chuckled. "Do not worry, little one. You and your mother mean the worlds to me. I would never hurt either of you."_

_Leanna's eyes only narrowed further, and she crossed her arms. "Just who the hell are you?"_

_He thought for a moment, then smiled. "I am someone who is very proud of the way you turned out."_

_Leanna let her arms fall to her sides. "You still didn't answer my question."_

_The man let out a laugh. "Ah, you're just as precious as your mother." He stared at her for a moment before walked forward, covering the distance between them in three long strides. "I'll see you in a couple of years, love.", was the last thing he said before he hugged her...._

_FLASH_

* * *

Leanna fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Memory after memory flooded into her mind from the crystal that had been storing them for so long. Happy memories, sad memories, tense and angry memories, all involving her and her father, and sometimes even Uncle Toby. Jareth had made her forget.

But why?

As the last of the memories poured into her, she shook her head and looked up at Jareth.

"Why?", she asked softly.

Jareth rubbed his face and answered, "Your mother's wrath can be terrible."

Leanna snorted. "You think I would tell my mother about a strange man who seemed to be hitting on me?", she asked. "It would've scared her half to death." She stood and stared at him for a few moments before walking forward and hugging Jareth around the neck. "You're a damn idiot, you know that, right?"

Jareth chuckled and hugged her back. "I have you to remind me, daughter. And your mother. And my... son-in-law... and my future brother-in-law... and my future brother-in-law's probable wife.... and your friend... and your friend's bro-, um son."

"Shut up, Dad.", Leanna muttered. Jareth did shut up at that.

Leanna released him after a few moments. "C'mon Dad. Let's go save Mom."

Jareth grinned and turned to Morgan and Dillon. "Well, are you coming to save your king?", he asked. Morgan and Dillon grinned.

Leanna turned to JJ and bit her lip. "JJ, maybe... maybe you and Uncle Toby and Iris should stay here. Make sure Celeste doesn't go nuts."

JJ crossed his arms. "Right. _That's_ the reason you don't want me to go.", he said, raising an eyebrow.

Leanna sighed. "Okay, so I don't want you to get hurt. You guys should still stay here. Hell, if it were up to me, I'd be the _only one_ going." She rubbed her neck. "But I think this is what I was meant to do."

JJ frowned. "What?"

Leanna looked up at him. "Save the king, bring back the queen and the prince, and help them save the kingdom. I'll be saving my mother in the process."

JJ shrugged. "Doesn't mean we can't help. You haven't heard of Iris' Gift yet, have you?"

Leanna shook her head. "What is it?"

JJ smirked. "Bring us along, and you'll see."

Leanna grumbled then looked up at Jareth. "What do you think?", she asked him.

Jareth's eyes widened. "You're asking my opinion of something?", he asked in surprise, and she nodded. "Well, I'll be damned."

Leanna shrugged. "Well, maybe, but I'm not one to judge."

Jareth grinned, then looked at JJ. "Hmmmm.... I say.... we can use all the help we can get."

Leanna muttered, "Fine.", and JJ wrapped an arm around her waist. "But if you get yourself killed, I'm coming to the Underworld and forcing Pluto to let _me_ torture you _myself._"

JJ grinned. "Of course, love."

Leanna glared at him then walked out of the tower, followed by the others.

Leanna banged on Toby's door and shouted, "Get up, Uncle Toby!"

"Go away!", came the answering shout.

"I thought you wanted to help save Mom!"

Silence for a few moments, then, "We'll be along later."

Leanna paused. " 'We'?" No answer. Leanna muttered a few choice curses before turning away and continuing out of the castle.

After Leanna had fun scaring the guard for the thousandth time in the past eight months, they were outside the wall.

Leanna took a deep breath. "Dad, you go on with Morgan and Dillon. JJ and I have to make a quick stop at home to stir up a little trouble."

Jareth grinned. "Good idea." He conjured a crystal, then suddenly had his air supply cut off by his daughter.

"You stay alive, you hear?", she muttered.

"Don't worry about a thing, love.", Jareth replied, and she let go.

"Me? Worry? Ha! Perish the though!" She laughed at the familiar phrase.

Jareth grinned. "Of course, my daughter." He nodded to Morgan and Dillon. They reached out and touched the crystal. There was a bright flash of light, and the three of them were gone.

Leanna took JJ's hand, and he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. Then, his brows furrowed and his other hand found its way to her stomach.

"Not long now.", he whispered.

Leanna grinned, then snapped her fingers and a bottle of the clear potion appeared in her hand. She downed it. "Let's hope she'll hold out a bit longer.", she said. And she squeezed his hand, and they were gone.

* * *

And that is it for Chapter 9. Hope you enjoyed it. Only one more chapter to go, which might not be out until perhaps sometime in Thanksgiving. As I said before, I've been busy lately, so it might be a while. I'm not sure right now. And the Oblivion Field thing I made up myself... I was daydreaming in Physical Science and found myself wondering just where magic came from... and I came up with the Oblivion Field. Anyway... I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think... Oh my gosh! There is over 6,000 words in this chapter!


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Leanna and JJ appeared in the throne room of the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. The goblins were messing around, as usual.

"Oi! Shut up!", Leanna shouted, standing on her dad's throne. A shush fell on the entire room. "Now, most of you have been to the tower at Lismor's, right?" Most of them nodded. "All right then. Those of you who haven't, get a ride with those who have. I need your skills to help me steal some things from the headmistress for me." She could see their eyes light up with mischief, and she grinned.

Leanna and JJ spent a few minutes organizing the goblins into groups. Goblins were goblins, which made the task a little difficult, but she was just as formidable as her father, and they obeyed without too much screwing up. One group would steal the Originator, another would steal the Sword in the tower, and another would get Leanna's swords for her and tell Kul to meet them at the tenth kingdom. The last and final group would go straight to the castle in the tenth kingdom with crystals that would protect them from the most powerful dark magics. She sent them off, then JJ and Leanna disappeared and reappeared just outside the Goblin City, where the Lost things were, looking for Ludo. They found him moving a huge boulder to be made into a hut. Leanna told him what was going on, and Ludo gladly agreed to help. They also rounded up Hoggle and Sir Didymus, and JJ was even able to convince some fairies to go cause Wyndham some trouble(he had to promise them crystal glitter, which was actually rare to many creatures, besides Fae).

They were outside the Labyrinth when they were done, on a hill that overlooked the entire kingdom. JJ took Leanna's hand and conjured a crystal. He crushed it in his hand and gave a pinch each to Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymus. Leanna knelt down in front of them.

"You stood by my mother when she ran the Labyrinth to save my uncle. Now, I'm asking you to stand by _me_, by _us_, to save _her_. I can't do it without you guys. So, what d'you say?"

"Save Sawah!", Ludo bellowed.

"To the death!", Didymus shouted.

Leanna nodded at them, then looked at Hoggle. "Hoggle?"

Hoggle swore. "You know I'd do anything for Sarah.", he grunted. Leanna nodded. She knew that, coming from Hoggle, that was like, _I love you._

Leanna grinned. "Let's go." They all threw their glitter up in the air and they were gone.

* * *

Jareth, Morgan, and Dillon found themselves in a marble hall. It had once been beautiful, but had been tarnished with time.

"Real homey.", Morgan commented.

Jareth looked at Morgan, grinning. "You don't even know what that means, do you?", he asked.

Morgan shook her head. "Not really." She drew her sword silently, and Dillon followed suit. They stepped forward.

Jareth stepped in front of them and said, "Maybe I should lead."

Morgan and Dillon sidestepped him and walked forward slowly, then stopped suddenly. Morgan put one foot down in front of her, then took it back quickly just as a large pendulum swung down and sliced at the place where her foot had just been. They both looked back at him.

"Still wanna lead?", Dillon asked, smirking.

Jareth remember they had both lived here for several centuries, and he gulped. "Maybe you two should lead, then."

They both grinned, and Jareth got the feeling that had been spending _far_ too much time around his daughter.

They made it through the marble hall without seeing a soul. Several minutes passed until finally they came to a large iron door that Jareth was careful not to touch. Morgan scratched her head, then held up four fingers.

"Four guards.", she mouthed silently, then slid her hand across her neck in a slicing motion and mouthed, "No magic." Jareth nodded, and Dillon handed Jareth one of his three swords: the one that was at his waist. He drew the two that were strapped across his back. Morgan took a pin out of her hair and set to work on the lock. It wasn't long before a loud _CLICK_ was heard, and Jareth winced at the sound.

Dillon noticed. "Don't worry. Krug are actually quite deaf... not to mention stupid.", he assured... and Morgan flung open the door. There was a tunnel heading steeply down. They started down it. At the end of the tunnel, the four Krug that Morgan had mentioned were standing around in front of yet another iron door, this one bigger than the first.

It didn't take long for Jareth, Morgan, and Dillon to slay the stupid creatures. They never even saw them coming. While Morgan set to work on the lock, Dillon started to whisper to Jareth.

"If the schedule is still the same, the guard changes every eight hours.", he explained. "I'd say the next guard should be coming around soon, at dawn."

Jareth nodded. "Dawn isn't long away at all. Hurry, Morgan."

"Don't rush me.", was Morgan's snappy reply. It was soon followed by some very loud swearing from inside the room.

"Damn it, Miach, I _told_ you not to try and do magic.", came a shout from a familiar voice. "That hurt."

"Well, _excuse_ me. I was just trying to help.", came another voice.

Jareth suddenly didn't care that his magic was probably being monitored. The woman's voice had driven him over the edge. He thrust his hand toward the door before Morgan or Dillon could stop him, and the door blew off its hinges. The great crash it caused was followed by a very high pitched whining noise.

"Damn it, Jareth, you tripped the alarm.", Morgan shouted, covering her ears.

Jareth ignored her and rushed into the the room and down a flight of steps.

"Sarah?", he called out, raising his voice above the alarm.

Sarah suddenly rushed forward, threw her arms around his neck... and promptly whacked him on the back of the head. _Hard._

Jareth stepped back and rubbed the injured spot.

"Hey!", he protested. "We just saved you."

"You were late.", Sarah huffed in reply and hurried up the steps. Jareth glared after her then turned to the other man in the dungeon.

"Your Majesty.", he greeted respectfully, inclining his head.

The man inclined his own head. "And yours, King Jareth.", he replied. "And please, just call me Miach."

Jareth grinned. "You can call me Jareth, then, Miach." And they ran up the stairs.

When Miach crossed the threshold, he doubled over and gasped. Jareth had gotten so used to having his magic taken away and brought back again, he hadn't even noticed that the dungeon down there had been a mini magic sink. But Miach had. Jareth helped steady him, and the King of Neroche stood up straighter and looked at Morgan. Jareth saw him mouth her name, then he rushed forward and hugged her tight.

"I missed you so much.", he whispered in her hair.

Morgan let out a sigh. "We missed you too."

Miach turned to Dillon next, but Jareth cleared his throat.

"In case you haven't noticed the very loud alarm, I suggest we get moving.", Jareth informed them calmly.

Morgan nodded. Miach rubbed his hands together, then snapped his fingers. A sword appeared in his hand. He grinned at them.

"Leanna and JJ should be here soon.", Dillon commented.

Sarah swore, and Jareth looked at her.

"Leanna's coming?", she asked in horror.

Jareth sighed. "Sarah, you raised her. You ought to know how stubborn she is." He smirked. "She's her mother's daughter."

Sarah glare at him for a moment, then swore again and took one of Dillon's swords from his hands, much to his protest.

"Can you use it?", Jareth asked.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You're looking at the woman who raised Leanna, remember? If I can do that, I can do anything."

Jareth nodded. "Point and match." And the five of them made their way out of the dungeon.

* * *

Leanna, JJ, Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymus appeared in what seemed like the Entrance Hall. Leanna looked around. She heard a very high pitched whining noise, and she plugged her ears.

"Hey, Ludo!", she shouted. "Why don't we sound our own alarm?!"

Ludo was quick to oblige. He howled even louder than the castle's alarm, and Leanna was forced to plunge her fingers even deeper into her ears. The castle itself shook. Stones crashed through the windows.

Leanna caught some movement at the corner of her vision, and she looked. Several groups of goblins were hurrying toward them. One group had her swords and the Sword from the tower. Leanna hurriedly strapped the one that Jareth had given her to her waist, and she strapped the one with Kul's stones on it across her back with JJ's help. Leanna helped JJ strap the Sword across his back. She took the Originator from another group and began turning the two gears on it. One of the gears she turned up to "100s" and the other she turned to "dark magic-inhuman." She looked at it for a moment before sticking it in her belt.

"Okay, you guys.", Leanna told them. "Go find your buddies with the crystal and help them cause some chaos." They hurried off excitedly.

Leanna and JJ hurried into the Great Hall, Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymus right behind them.

Wyndham was sitting calmly at the head of the table. Several hundred Krug lined the walls. Leanna heard a faint singing, and she followed the sound with her eyes to a sword hanging on the wall behind Wyndham.

"Didymus, Hoggle, go find my mom and dad, and bring them here, please.", she said. "You should find the king, queen, and prince of Neroche with them." Hoggle, and Didymus on Ambrosia, ran out of the Great Hall. "Ludo..." Leanna thought for a moment. "Can you _only_ summon rocks?", she whispered in Ludo's ear, nodding at the sword... and Ludo howled. The sword shot from the wall, and Leanna caught it, grinning. Wyndham's calm was broken and he stood.

"I thought you'd be coming around one of these days, Princess Leanna.", he hissed out.

"Awww. Well, I couldn't disappoint you, now, could I?", Leanna asked sarcastically. "What kind of person would I be then?"

"In my opinion, a much less annoying one.", Wyndham answered.

Leanna scoffed. "Geez, you sound like my father." She crossed her arms. "So, what's the alarm for?"

Wyndham waved a hand airily. "Obviously, to tell me when annoying pests, like you, for instance, invade my home."

Leanna gritted her teeth. "This isn't your home.", she growled.

Wyndham shrugged. "You're not going to change a thing."

Leanna shrugged too. "Maybe not me.", she said slowly, then jerked a thumb at a door at the edge of the Great Hall. "But they will."

At that moment, the door burst open, sending a couple of Krug that were standing in front of it flying. Jareth, Sarah, Dillon, Morgan, and Miach rushed in. Hoggle and Sir Didymus were right behind him. Jareth looked at JJ and Leanna and winked.

"Ludo, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, go help the goblins make trouble with the Krug in the castle.", Leanna said, and they ran off. Leanna nodded at Miach. "Your Majesty." She looked at Morgan and Dillon. "Majest_ies_." She hesitated then ran forward and hugged Sarah. "Mom, you get yourself kidnapped twice, and now you drag me into rescuing you.", she muttered, choking Sarah slightly. "Gods, I just realized how much you mean to me."

"You realize those two statements were very contradicting.", Jareth pointed out.

Leanna grunted out a, "Hi, Dad.", then looked at JJ. "The whole family together again."

"Hey, she gets a hug and I get a 'Hi'?", Jareth asked incredulously.

Leanna sighed and kissed him on the cheek, shocking him for a moment.

Jareth grinned and turned to Sarah and poked her. "A kiss is better than a hug, ha!."

Sarah poked him back, _hard_. "A hug lasts longer. HA!"

Jareth's eyes narrowed briefly, then he looked at Wyndham and said, "What's with the long face, Wynny? You should be happy, like me!" It should be noted that his eyes were very cold, his nostrils were flaring, and his mouth was nothing but a thin line.

Wyndham glared at him. "Because you are invading my home. Why do you think?"

Jareth shrugged. "I thought it was because you were about to die, but I suppose that isn't _too_ far off from your assumptions, is it... Leanna?"

Leanna shook her head. "Nope. In fact, I'd say you're both right. Wouldn't you, Mom?"

"I would say you're exactly right, Leanna. What d'you think, JJ?", Sarah said, the corner of her mouth twitching..

JJ grinned. "I think you're all absolutely correct. How about you Dil-"

"ENOUGH!!!", roared Wyndham suddenly, his pale face pink with anger.

Their response: Snorting with laughter.

Wyndham clapped his hands twice. The Krug surrounding the hall moved forward and filled the distance between Wyndham and Jareth, Morgan, Miach, Sarah, Dillon, JJ, and Leanna. **(Authoress: *takes deep breath* I hope I didn't forget anyone.)**

"Afraid to face us yourself, Wyndham?!", Miach shouted.

There was a high cold laugh from somewhere across the Sea of Krug-Morons.

"You couldn't defeat me 2000 years ago, Mochriademiach!", Wyndham's voice answered. "What makes you think you can now?"

Miach began to pace. "True, I couldn't defeat you all those years ago. I was more powerful than your grandfather, true, but down the line... you became more powerful than even me. Two hundred years ago, if I heard the story correctly, Jareth, the Goblin King, ran you off before either of you could defeat the other. You both had just about the same amount of power." Miach stopped pacing and looked at Leanna. "What do you think is going to stop his daughter from destroying you? After all, since you are more powerful than your grandfather was, doesn't it stand to reason that the Goblin King's daughter is more powerful than her father, and more powerful... than you?"

There was silence from Wyndham, then a high cold laugh.

"Yes... so she is... but what about... the boy?", came the soft hiss, though they could all hear him quite clearly.

Leanna ran forward, sword half drawn, eyes lit up with a furious fire that Jareth had rarely seen. Jareth had no doubt that Leanna would've cut herself a way straight through to Wyndham if Miach hadn't caught her by the elbow and held her back.

"He's only trying to get inside your head.", Miach hissed at her. "Don't let him."

Leanna struggled against his restraint for a few moments, before calming down and backing away, standing noticeably closer to JJ.

"You know, I've had just about enough of this.", Leanna growled. She took the Originator and pointed it at the Krug as they began to advance. She closed her eyes... and a wave of bright light exploded out of the barrel of the Originator. Another wave followed, and another and another. The waves collided with the Krug, knocking them to their feet and enveloping them. Jareth and the others had to shield their eyes against the bright light. When the light died and they looked again, the Krug were gone. In their places were hundreds of men, women, and children. Many of them men wore armor, but the women and children had nothing for protection except the old, dirty rags on their backs that Jareth supposed were once clothes.

After muttering angrily for a few moments, Leanna yelled, "Goblins!" Instantly, what looked like over 200 goblins appeared in the Great Hall. Cackling and chattering wildly, they looked up at Leanna.

"Listen up, you bunch of nitwits!", Leanna shouted. "You see those women children? I want you to get them outta here!" She turned to said women and children. "Don't be afraid of them.", she told them kindly. "They may be stupid, but they know when they're going to be thrown in the Bog of Stench if they don't do something and do it right." She shot the goblins a glare, then smiled again at the people. "So no worries." She glared at the goblins and they scurried off to do their jobs.

Miach stepped in front of Leanna. The men that were once Krug started to bow.

Miach shook his head. "Get up, get up. We have more important things to worry about.", he told them. "Now, I dunno where Wyndham went, but we have to turn the rest of the Krug back into men." He took the Originator from Leanna's hand wordlessly, ignoring the glare she shot him. He handed it to a guy wearing long, worn robes in the front of the crowd. There were several others around him wearing the same thing, and they moved in around the guy with the Originator.

"Guard with this your life.", Miach told them all. "Go through the castle and turn the rest of the Krug back." AS the men in robes (Jareth thought they must be mages) hurried off, Miach turned back to the soldiers. "The rest of you, spread out and find King Moron." Most of them snickering, they hurried off to obey orders. The Great Hall slowly emptied.

Leanna looked at Miach. "Now why the hell did you do that?", she asked. She looked down at the sword Ludo had called. She handed it to Miach and said, "I believe this is yours."

Miach looked a bit surprised as he took the sword. "Do what?", he asked.

Leanna waved a hand in the general direction the soldiers had gone. "Send them off to find Wynny. I've already found him."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "How?", he asked.

Leanna jerked her thumb up. "Goblins found him. They're calling me."

Jareth's eyebrow went higher. "They do that to you too?", he asked curiously.

JJ rolled his eyes. "Of course they do.", he said. "She's the heir to your bloody throne. What'd you expect?"

Jareth glared at him. "I just didn't expect it to happen so soo- Oh, he's calling me now. Thankfully, they can only do it in real emergencies. We'd better get over there. It's annoying if your wait more than 5 minutes. Then they start shouting and their voice gets really high and squeaky and- Hey!" Leanna had finally had enough of her father's ramblings, had taken his wrist, and dragged him out of the Great Hall, assisted by Sarah, who had a hold of his other wrist.

Leanna and Miach led the way, Leanna telling them where they needed to go, and Miach helping them to avoid the many booby traps.

"Why did you set up so many of these things?", Sarah asked.

It was Dillon who answered. "If you wanted to keep out annoying evil mages, to what lengths do you think you would go?", he asked, raising an eyebrow as they avoided spiked, floor-to-ceiling poles that were spinning back and forth.

Sarah nodded. "Good point. Although it doesn't really seem to have worked very well, no offense."

"None taken.", Miach answered, grinning at her.

They finally made it to the foot of a narrow, spiral, staircase. Miach scratched his head.

"Are you sure this is where he is?", Miach asked.

Leanna gave him... a _look_. "Of course I'm sure.", she snapped.

"What's up there?", Jareth asked.

Miach snorted. "The toilet.", he answered.

Leanna looked up the stairs. "I guess we, quite literally, scared the piss out of him, huh?", she asked, face straight and totally serious. At least on the outside.

They all snorted and snickered with laughter as they walked slowly up the stairs, taking their sweet time. Hopefully, Wyndham would be finished with his... business... once they got there.

They finally came to an old wooden door that had an old, faded sign that said: "_M n o l ts_."

Leanna sighed. "Okay, who's gonna volunteer to open it?" She waved a casual hand... and Jareth's hand shot into the air. Leanna beamed at him. "Aw, Dad, you're so brave."

"I'm gonna hurt you when we get home.", Jareth growled in a low voice. He sighed and pushed open the door. He almost immediately shouted in pain and closed the door with a loud _BANG!_, shouting, "My eyes! My eyes!" Not only that, but the smell that had wafted from the room beyond that door had made everyone's eyes water. It rivaled the smell of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

"I guess he had to do more than piss.", Dillon stated, grimacing.

Leanna sighed and waved her hand. There was a shout and a curse from the other side of the door. There was some scrambling around and the door was opened to reveal the angry face of Wyndham.

"Excuse me!", he shouted. "Do you mind?"

"Nope.", Leanna answered. Her hands, which she had hidden behind her back, suddenly made themselves known as they threw a pie at Wyndham.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "A pie?"

Jareth grinned. "It's what I would've done.", he said.

Leanna made a face. "Please don't say that Dad.", she said in a bit of a strained voice. She quickly spun around, bringing her leg up to give Wyndham good kick in the head... but he faded away, and her foot passed right where his head had just been. Her mouth fell open as there was a chuckle from behind them.

"You know, Jareth... I thought you would've taught her better.", came Wyndham's icy voice from behind them, and they turned to face him.

"You can't fix annoying.", Jareth replied, shrugging and earning a glare from both Leanna and Sarah.

Wyndham looked at Leanna. "You can if you know the right spell.", he said, a malicious glint in his eyes. He waved a hand and the lot of them went flying backwards into the bathroom. Miach, Dillon, and JJ ended up in the bathtub, Morgan landed in the sink, Leanna crashed into the toilet, and Jareth and Sarah, the two lucky ones, simply ended up on the floor, albeit in a rather awkward, embarrassing position that was not suitable for the eyes of people under the age of 18.

* * *

Toby and Iris appeared together in the Entrance Hall.

"Real homey.", Toby muttered, looking around.

Iris shook her head. "No matter how many times you explain your Aboveground ways, I still don't understand.", she said.

Toby grinned. "I'm sure I'll grow out of it, love.", he assured her, then looked around. "Now where the bloody hell are we?"

Iris swung the guitar she had from across her back and plucked one of the strings. A sound a bit like a foghorn came from the guitar, accompanied by Iris singing, "Find them.", very softly. The neck of the guitar swing around, jerking Iris around with it, pointing toward a large marble stair case.

"Why not ask it to take us there?", Toby suggested.

Iris shot him a glare, then strummed the strings. This time a sound somewhere between a normal guitar riff and a flute emitted from the magical guitar. Iris sang, "Take me to them.", very softly under her breath, then gripped Toby's hand. And suddenly, they were gone.

They reappeared at the foot of a narrow, spiral staircase. They looked at each other for a moment, then Toby drew his sword and led the way up.

* * *

Leanna growled deep in her throat and struggled to her feet. She helped up Sarah from the floor and JJ from the bathtub, then took the Sword from across JJ's back. She helped Morgan out of the sink and handed the Sword to her. Morgan took it hesitantly. It burst into song and glowed a soft red. There were tears in Morgan's eyes. Leanna grinned.

"I thought the girl with the sword on that tapestry looked familiar.", she said, winking. Leanna opened her mouth to say something else, but someone else beat her to the punch.

"Boxers or briefs?", came a familiar voice from behind Wyndham.

Wyndham whirled around and snarled, "Who the bloody hell are you?" When the perso didn't answer, Wynny asked, "Why do you want to know, anyway?"

Silence for a moment, then they heard Iris' voice again. "If I don't aim it right, I could take off your leg."

Jareth looked around Wyndham to see Iris standing there with a guitar. But where was Toby?

Jareth quickly reached around and helped Miach and Dillon out of the tub. Miach drew the sword Leanna had given him. The Sword of Neroche. Jareth thought it was incredibly stupid of Wyndham to not have destroyed the sword, or at least take its powers for himself. Obviously, he didn't know how to take over a country properly.

Leanna inspected her fingernails. "Well, Wynny, you seem to be in between a rock and hard place.", she said. "Give yourself up now, and we'll give you a quick, painless death instead of the long, slow, tortuous, hurts-just-to-watch death we were planning."

Jareth snorted and muttered, "No we won't." Leanna glared at him.

"Dad, don't undermine my authority. ", she hissed at him.

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You have about as much authority as a squirrel."

Leanna grinned. "Long as it's a carnivorous one."

Jareth paled visibly, then looked up at Wyndham, who, by the way, was still staring rather dumbfoundedly at Iris.

"Iris, where's Toby?", Jareth asked her.

Iris waved a hand airily. "Oh, I'm sure he's hanging around somewhere.", she answered, a small smirk on her face.

Miach walked out of the bathroom to stand beside Wyndham. Wyndham looked at him and stepped away snarling.

"You people won't win.", he hissed at them.

"Oh, I think you'll find soon enough that we will.", Miach said. "Toby!" Very suddenly, a blur dropped from the ceiling, landing on Wyndham and knocking him to the floor. Toby pressed the blade of a small dagger against Wynny's throat.

"Our family is bigger than you thought, isn't it, Wyndham?", Toby hissed.

"Uncle Toby, don't kill him.", Leanna said suddenly, and everyone looked at her in surprise.

"And why not?", Toby asked.

Leanna closed her eyes. "Number One, you aren't a killer Uncle Toby. And Number Two... not this way. It's not right. It should be a fair fight. Or at least let him die standing."

Jareth put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her head before she could pull away.

"So your mother _did_ raise you right.", he muttered, receiving a glare from Sarah. "I was beginning to worry."

JJ grinned at his wife. "And you wonder why I love you so much.", he said, shaking his head.

Leanna glared at him. "One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of all time.", she replied.

Toby stood up and backed away to stand next to JJ as Iris stepped over Wynny to stand next to Toby. Wyndham stood and smiled at Leanna maliciously.

"You're a fool... _Princess_.", he sneered at her.

"_Don't... call me... __**Princess**_!", Leanna growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, here we go.", Jareth muttered.

Leanna drew both her swords. "C'mon. Let's have it out right here, you and me.", Leanna challenged. "_Nobody_ calls me Princess... _Princess._"

Wyndham growled and conjured his own two swords... and attacked.

Jareth shook his head, smiling. "First rule of sword play: Never strike first if you have the choice."

Miach grinned. "He's much better suited using magic, it's true."

Jareth frowned and licked his lips, tasting a dark spell in the air. He tried like hell to unweave the spell, but it was already half finished.

"Damn it.", Jareth muttered and lunged forward and knocked Leanna out of the way as a jet of dark purple light hit him right across the chest. He flew backwards and crashed into the wall, smacking his head against it. He slid to the floor and lay there, unmoving.

Leanna swore, lashed out with her foot, and sent Wyndham tumbling down the stairs. She walk back into the bathroom and knelt beside her father.

"Damn you, stop playing around and get up!", Leanna shouted down at him. When he didn't move, Leanna hit him on his chest and yelled, "You damn idiot, get up!"

Sarah sat down beside her daughter and pulled Leanna into her arms as a small tear fell down her face.

"Leanna, it'll be all right.", Sarah whispered soothingly.

Leanna began to lean against her mother, but she suddenly tore away from Sarah, pulled back a fist, and punched Jareth full in the face. She punch him again and again until finally she cried out, "Dad, wake up!", and collapsed into her mother and cried, burying her face in Sarah's shoulder. JJ sat down beside his wife, wrapped both arms around her waist, and settled his head on her back. There were so busy trying to comfort each other that they didn't notice Toby cover a grin with his hand as the man on the floor sat up and smirked in Leanna's direction... through a busted lip.

"You know, I _love_ it when you call me dad.", Jareth said suddenly, his eyes (well, eye, since on of them was swollen shut) twinkling. Leanna looked up in pure shock, and JJ and Sarah looked up with wide, relieved smiles.

"Although, you could've let that awful panicky tone out of you voice.", Jareth continued thoughtfully. "It just doesn't have as much of a ring to-" Jareth was cut off as Leanna hugged him around the neck.

"You ever do that again, I'm killing you myself.", she growled as Sarah joined in the hugging.

"Of course, little one.", Jareth replied, smiling, before kissing Sarah softly.

JJ shrugged and hugged Jareth.

"Oh, gods, my son-in-law is hugging me!", Jareth is shouted in mock disgust. "Someone get it off! Get it off!"

Toby grinned. "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is this strange family's version of a Kodak moment!", he shouted in an announcer-type voice.

Leanna laughed. "Yeah, they oughta have _this_ on one of the commercials.", she agreed, grinning. "Me beating him up, death threats... that's love, that is."

"What's a commercial?", Miach asked curiously.

"See, in the Aboveground, they have these mechanical boxes with screens that show moving pictures.", Morgan started. "Commercials are things on these boxes' screens that try and get you to buy a certain product."

Miach nodded. "So, what's a Kodak?"

"It's a type of camera.", Toby answered.

Miach's brow furrowed. "What's a camera?"

Toby opened his mouth to explain, but Jareth told them all to be quiet. There were footsteps coming up the stairs.

"You pushed me down the stairs.", Wyndham growled as he climbed the last step. Leanna noticed with more than a little satisfaction he was limping more than slightly.

"Technically, I kicked you.", Leanna corrected him.

Wyndham glared at her as she stood, then watched as she turned and helped JJ and Sarah up and pointedly ignored Jareth and leaving him to stand by himself.

Leanna cracked her knuckles, reached out, and pulled at the air. Wyndham's feet were swept out from under him by an invisible force, and he fell backwards. Leanna grinned. She snapped her fingers and a small flame appeared in her hand. As she glared at Wyndham, the flame grew into a rather large ball of flame. She hurled it at Wynny, but Wynny pushed at the air and the fireball curved around him, smashing into and through the window. She threw several more, each one diverted from its target, smashing into the wall and making the hole there bigger and bigger until it was man-sized. Leanna went for another time, but Miach put a hand on her shoulder.

"No need to stall any longer.", he whispered in her ear, receiving a snort from her. "I have an idea. You can sing, can't you?" He whispered the rest of his plan in her ear, and then went off behind her to tell the others as Leanna hurled ice shards at Wyndham.

**Some readers may be wondering why Wyndham doesn't attack. Well, readers, Leanna quite a bit more power than Wyndham does, and he doesn't dare attack her for fear of having his spell perhaps bounce off of her and hit him instead. He wants to catch her off guards. Of course, his magic wouldn't do that. A powerful killing spell from him to her could knock Leanna out for hours, but not rebound. But... SHH!!!! We aren't gonna tell _HIM_ that!**

Very suddenly, Iris struck her guitar very loudly. Wyndham plugged his ears, cried out, and fell to his knees. Iris' playing took on a familiar tune, and Toby stepped up beside her and began to sing:

_"Buddy you're a boy make a big noise  
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day  
You got mud on ya face  
You big disgrace  
Kickin' your can all over the place  
Singin' "_

**(Then everyone joined in)**

_"We will we will rock you  
We will we will rock you"  
_

**(JJ stepped up then, slung an arm around Toby's neck, and continued the song):**

_"Buddy you're a young man hard man  
Shouting in the street gonna take on the world some day  
You got blood on ya face  
You big disgrace  
Wavin' your banner all over the place"_

**(Then everyone joined in again)**

_"We will we will rock you  
Sing it  
We will we will rock you"_

**(It was Jareth's turn then. Leanna had made sure he got the part that talked about old men, and he wouldn't realize until later that that was on purpose):**

_"Buddy you're an old man poor man  
Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make  
You some peace some day  
You got mud on your face  
Big disgrace  
Somebody betta put you back into your place"_

**(Everyone joined in again for the final chorus)**

_"We will we will rock you  
Sing it  
We will we will rock you  
Everybody  
We will we will rock you  
We will we will rock you  
Alright"_

Iris began with that guitar riff at the end of "We Will Rock You", and Wyndham's screams became worse than ever. They were filled with anguish and he cried out, "Naima!" Leanna gritted her teeth and yelled for Iris to stop. Wyndham collapsed to the floor, hands still covering his ears and breathing hard. Everyone looked at Leanna.

"No one deserves to relive the death of the only one they ever _really_ loved.", Leanna whispered. "Or the only one who ever loved them."

Jareth sighed. "Softy. And I thought Sarah raised you." This comment cost him an elbow in the ribs from one Sarah Williams.

Leanna kicked at Wyndham and shouted, "Get up!" Wyndham obeyed, struggling to his feet.

"You can't beat me.", Wyndham growled.

Leanna snorted. "Yeah, well, so far we seem to be doing a pretty good job of it.", she replied.

Wynny sneered. "I am a king!"

"You're a coward!", Morgan shouted. "You're a coward afraid to face your fears, hiding behind power and a throne!"

Wyndham snarled, then turned and leapt out of the opening in the wall Leanna's fireballs had created. They all ran to the edge and looked down at the falling man. But he was no longer a man. He had transformed into a blood red dragon.

"Kul!", Leanna shouted, and from out of nowhere, a streak of golden lightning shot from the sky and struck Wyndham. The red dragon went reeling and it fell out of the sky, hitting the ground with a great thud heard all the way back up at the castle.

And it was still alive, for it writhed and roared in a mixture of pain and anger. It couldn't fly from its broken wings.

Miach closed his eyes and began to chant in a tongue that even Jareth did not understand. And then, with one last word... the dragon died. Nothing special, no bursting into flame, no theatrics. Just a simple, painless stopping of the heart.

Leanna bowed her head and murmured briefly, so that no one else could hear, "May the gods have mercy on your soul, Wyndham." She looked back up and ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "Okay, folks. Let's... go home."

Iris grinned. "Agreed. But first..." She poised her fingers on the strings and played.

Everyone else grinned too and as Leanna slung and arm around Iris' neck and began to sing, everyone who knew the song (that would be everyone besides Miach, poor man) joined in:

_"We are the champions, my friends_

_And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end_

_We are the champions_

_We are the champions_

_No time for losers_

_Cuz we are the champions..._

_Of the wor-"_

"AAAAhhhhh!"

Jareth looked at JJ. "I don't remember that being part of the song.", he said to his son-in-law as the younger man cried out again and doubled over in pain.

No one noticed Leanna gasping for breath, leaning against the wall, until she said, "Um... Dad?" Everyone looked up at her, and Jareth felt the blood drain from his face and make its way to his hands, making them sweat. He looked from JJ to Leanna several times.

"What's wrong?", Sarah asked, looking from Shock (Jareth) to Breathless (Leanna) to Jasper Cullen. Jasper Cullen being JJ, of course, who was trying like a brave little man to pretend like he wasn't in an extreme amount of pain. Sarah cursed the day Leanna made her watch Twilight.

"Well, if my calculations are correct...", Jareth started, finally finding his voice.

But Leanna beat him to the punch by saying suddenly, and very loudly...

"My water just broke."

* * *

Muahahahahahaha! Don't ya know I'm just evil?! Sorry I left you hanging like that. And sorry it took so long. I'd have writer's block from a month at a time, then I'd get a brief bit of inspiration for a couple days, then I'd have writer's block for another month. It was horrible. But I struck it rich by that Kodak comment. It was pretty much smooth sailing from there And I really hope I don't get banned for the songs in this one, or in the last chapter. And don't worry, I've already got Chapter 11, the final chapter, ready for ya.

Leanna: I hate you.

LP: I know... Mission Not-So-Impossible Accomplished

Jareth: *runs around like a chicken with his head cut off*

Sarah: What's wrong with him?

LP: *snickers* He's scared.

Sarah: Why?

LP: *snickers again* Because I _love_ him.

Sarah: ... Run, Jareth! Run!!!


	12. Chapter 11

**_Disclaimer:_ *takes deep breath* I do not own Labyrinth, Harry Potter, The Nine Kingdoms Series, Dungeon Siege, Tamora Pierce books, Dead Reefs, Airplane, Dragonology, Eragon, the poem "I Was a Skinny Tomboy Kid", Elvis Presley, Shanghi Knights, Jeff Dunham, Prince of Persia, Kodak, Death Becomes Her, Queen, Twilight (thank the gods), Forest Gump, John's Mayer's "Daughter", and Rod Stewart's "Forever Young"....... *pants* I hope that's all of them...**

**Chapter 11**

Jareth was pacing back and forth in front of the door of the soundproof room. JJ was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against said door, swigging on his fifth bottle of peach-flavored pain potion. Toby was rocking back and forth, holding onto Iris. Iris' older brother, the King of Scanra, had come too, and he was glaring at Toby, who was pretending he didn't notice. Miach, Dillon, and Morgan were sitting on the floor a ways down the hall, talking amongst themselves. Jareth couldn't blame them. They had over a thousand years to catch up on. Sarah was in the room with Leanna and the Healers. She had kicked Jareth and JJ out several hours ago.

King Nicholas came out of a door down the hall. It was the one that led to the Escher Room.

"Jareth, I don't know what it is with you and that Escher Room of yours.", he grumbled. As he walked past Miach, Dillon, and Morgan, he said, "Oh, hello, Miach Dillon, Morgan. Now, Jareth, how is-" Nicholas stopped mid sentence. Jareth smiled as Nicholas' eyes grew wide with shock. Nicholas turned slowly to look at Morgan, Miach, and Dillon, and in the order.

Morgan stood and said in a small voice, "Hullo, Grandfather."

Nicholas rushed forward and enveloped Morgan in a hug. He held out an arm to Dillon as well, and Dillon came over and hugged him. Miach just sat there, smiling.

"No hug for your grandson-in-law, then?", he asked.

Nicholas muttered, "Hell might freeze over." Miach only laughed.

Jareth sighed and sat down beside JJ.

"Do you think she's... all right?", JJ asked Jareth shakily.

Jareth looked at him. "I think my daughter, your wife, is one of the strongest women in the worlds, and I think she's fine."

JJ smiled weakly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Jareth grinned. "I'm not often otherwise.", he replied arrogantly, getting a snort from JJ... and Toby... and Nicholas... and Morgan... and Dillon... and... well... you get the picture.

The lot of them spent several more hours waiting in anxious silence in the corridor outside the room. Finally, when both JJ and Jareth had nearly come to the point of bursting through the door and demanding what was going on, the door opened and Jareth and JJ fell backwards. Seconds later, they found themselves staring up at a rather sweaty, amused Sarah.

"Hi, Sarah.", Jareth said in a small voice.

"Get up, you big goons.", was her reply.

They both obeyed, and Sarah stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind her.

"How is she?", Morgan asked, walking forward.

Sarah hesitated, and JJ picked up his potion and took another healthy swig as if it would dull emotional pain. It wouldn't. Jareth merely held his breath, preparing himself for the worst.

Sarah's face broke into a large smiled and she said, "It's a girl. She and Leanna are fine."

JJ collapsed against Jareth as Jareth, Morgan, and Toby let out identical sighed of relief.

"Can we see her?", Jareth asked.

Sarah grinned and opened the door. JJ went in first, then Toby, Morgan, and Iris. Nicholas walked in after a few moments, shortly followed by Dillon and the king of Scanra. Jareth looked at Miach, who was hanging back.

"Well come on.", Jareth urged, gesturing toward the door. "You're like family now."

Miach grinned and walked into the room. Jareth followed close behind.

Inside, Leanna was sitting up in bed, head back and eyes closed. A little purple bundle was in JJ's arms. Sarah and Toby were on the other side of the bed, watching JJ smile from ear to ear. Jareth hesitated then walked over to stand beside JJ and look down at his granddaughter.

The little face looked peaceful and JJ spoke softly to it. Her eyes had inherited the family trait of mismatched colors. Her eyes and nose were shaped like her mother's, but her cheekbones reminded Jareth of JJ. Jareth pulled the blanket down just a little. The little girl had the same mouth as, Jareth was surprised to see, JJ's mother. It had been a while since Jareth looked in on JJ's parents. He would have to do so later.

Leanna stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled at JJ, a real smile Jareth hadn't seen on her face since Sarah had disappeared. It made Jareth smile too. She looked around the room at the grinning faces, and that smile turned into a grin.

"Well.", she said. "Seems the only things that are missing are the fireworks and Christmas lights."

Jareth chuckled. "Well, you don't ask for much, do you?"

Leanna looked at him, then at Sarah. "Before I'm back to normal, Mom, Dad... Just want to say I love you both."

Sarah and Jareth grinned at each other, knowing they wouldn't hear that again for another few... years.

Leanna pointed a finger at JJ accusingly. "_You_ are never allowed in my rooms again.", she hissed.

JJ gulped. "Ever?"

"Never.", Leanna growled. JJ looked rather nervous about that.

Jareth patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry JJ. Sarah said the same thing to me when Leanna was born."

Sarah looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No I didn't. You weren't even there.", she said.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Oh, wasn't I?"

Sarah looked from him to Leanna.

Leanna shook her head. "We'll explain later, Mom."

Sarah nodded, scowling slightly.

JJ looked down at his newborn daughter. He positioned himself better on the bed so that he was half sitting, half laying next to Leanna so that Leanna could see the baby too.

"What should we name her?", JJ asked.

Leanna was silent for a moment. "Morgan.", she said finally, nodding firmly. Morgan's eyes became wet, and Leanna looked up at her. "After her... godmother?", Leanna asked, raising an eyebrow at Morgan... the older Morgan... you know, Leanna's friend Morgan... the one who... Never mind.

Morgan grinned broadly and ran over to Leanna and hugged her.

"I'd be honored, Leanna.", Morgan said softly.

Leanna hugged her back for a moment, then said, "You can let go now, Morgan." Morgan let go.

Leanna looked up at Jareth and JJ. "So... where's my songs?"

Jareth and JJ grinned at each other. JJ handed _little_ Morgan to Leanna, then stood and whispered something in Iris' ear.

"What song?", Toby asked.

"It's a tradition in my family.", Jareth explained. "When a child is born, the new father and the father of the new mother dedicate a song to mother and child."

Toby nodded slowly, and Jareth got the feeling he still didn't understand.

Iris' guitar turned from electric to acoustic. JJ took it and thanked Iris, then sat down next to Leanna. He began to play and shortly after, he began to sing:

_"I know a girl_

_She puts the color inside of my world_

_But she's just like a maze_

_Where all of the walls all continuously change_

_And I've done all I can_

_to stand on the steps with my heart in my hands_

_Now I'm starting to see_

_Maybe it's got nothing to do with me._

_Fathers be good to your daughters_

_Daughters will love like ya do_

_Girls become lovers_

_Who turn into mothers_

_So mothers be good to your daughters too._

_Oh, you see that skin_

_It's the same she's been standin in_

_Since the day she had to walk away_

_Now she's here_

_Cleaning up the mess he made."_

**(Several people snickered at the fact that Leanna had to practically shove Sarah and Jareth together.)**

_"So fathers be good to your daughters_

_Daughters will love like ya do_

_Girls become lovers_

_Who turn into mothers_

_So mothers be good to your daughters too._

_Boys you can break_

_You'll find out how much they can take_

_Boys will be strong_

_Boys soldier on_

_But boys would be gone without warmth from_

_A woman's good, good heart._

_On behalf of every man_

_looking out for every girl_

_You are the god and the weight of her world._

**(Leanna snorted at that one. Jareth could her thoughts going, "Other way around, love.")**

_So fathers be good to your daughters_

_Daughters will love like ya do_

_Girls become lovers_

_Who turn into mothers_

_So mothers be good to your daughters too._

_So mothers be good to your daughters too._

_So mothers be good to your daughters too."_

When JJ was done, he leaned against Leanna and looked down at little Morgan.

"I promise that I will do right by both of you to the best of my ability.", he whispered. He kissed Leanna then little Morgan's forehead, then he looked up at Jareth. "Your turn."

Jareth rolled his eyes and conjured a crystal. It had taken him a while to get it just right, but now that he knew what he wanted, it came easily. He opened his palm and the crystal settled there. He spoke the right words, and the crystal lifted into the air. Music began quietly, but slowly got louder. Jareth closed his eyes, leaned against the wall, and began to sing:

_"May the good gods be with ya down_

_every road ya roam._

_And may sunshine and happiness_

_surround you when you're far from home._

_And may you grow to be proud,_

_dignified, and true._

_And do unto others as_

_you would have done to you._

_Be courageous and be brave_

_And in my heart you'll always stay_

_Forever Young, Forever Young._

_May good fortune be with you_

_May your guiding light be strong._

_Build a stairway to heaven_

_with a prince or a vagabond."_

**(At this, JJ held up two fingers and mouthed "I'm both.")**

_"And may you never love in vain_

_And in my heart you will remain_

_Forever Young, Forever Young_

_For... Ever Young_

_For... Ever Young_

_Yeah!_

**(As the guitar solo started, tears were leaking out as Jareth thought about how much his daughter had grown up.)**

_"And when you finally fly away I'll be_

_Hoping that I served you well._

_For all the wisdom of a lifetime_

_No one can ever tell._

_But whatever road you choose_

_I'm right behind you_

_Win or Lose_

_Forever Young, Forever Young_

_For... Ever Young_

_For... Ever Young_

_For... For... Ever Young_

_For... Ever Young."_

By the time his song was done, tears were pouring freely from under Jareth's closed eyelids. He felt an arm slide around his waist. He didn't have to look to know it was Sarah. There was silence for a few moments.

"Well.", Jareth heard Leanna say, "I'm sorry, JJ. Dad beat you. Hell, he even cried, nearly gave me a heart attack. Afraid he gets the prize."

"What prize?", JJ asked, and Jareth could hear the surprise in his son-in-law's voice.

A few more moments of silence passed before Leanna said, "Dad?"

Jareth opened his eyes and looked at Sarah's smiling face before turning his head and looking at Leanna. She jerked her head, indicating he should come closer. He did so, taking Sarah with him. Leanna didn't say anything as they both hugged her and kissed her forehead and little Morgan's.

"Now what's this prize I've been hearing so much about?", Jareth asked playfully, sitting next to Leanna and pulling Sarah onto his lap.

Leanna smirked. "Well, I wasn't going to let you lay a finger on my daughter, but..." Her smirk turned into a grin and she gently lifted little Morgan up to him. Jareth looked at her in surprise before gently taking her from Leanna's arms. Sarah slipped off his lap to sit on the bed so she could see better.

Jareth held little Morgan securely in his arms and whispered, "My granddaughter."

Sarah crossed her arms, glared and said, "_My_ granddaughter."

Jareth grinned at her. "_Our_ granddaughter."

Leanna's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! That reminds me. Give me my daughter back."

Jareth raised an eyebrow but obeyed.

"Open the door, Dad.", Leanna commanded.

Scowling, Jareth stood up, walked slowly toward the door, and opened it. Outside, the cleric that had married Leanna and JJ was standing there, smiling. Jareth turned to gape at Leanna.

Leanna shook her head when he opened his mouth to say something. "Shut up and get married.", she ordered. Jareth grinned. That was one order he had no problem obeying. Toby pushed Sarah off the bed and toward Jareth. Jareth's smirk turned into a goofy happy smile.

Jareth wondered how many men could say they had gotten married in the delivery room of their daughter's daughter. Probably not many. But Jareth was bloody proud to be on of the the select few that had. If there were any.

* * *

Later that night, Sarah lay next to him. Moonlight poured through the window, softly illuminating Sarah's face. It was their first night together as husband and wife. As Goblin King and Goblin Queen. Jareth watched his queen sleep for the longest time before he finally wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Goodnight, my Queen.", he whispered, kissed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Only to be woken up again about 10 minutes later to Leanna and JJ's drunken rendition of "Jareth and the Squirrel."

THE END!!!!

* * *

I'm sure most of you are going "Well, it's about damn time!" Well I would agree with you, but I had fun writing The Heir and The Heir 2. If we look beyond the fact that is was a total mess and took several months to finish. And I'm sorry to all my long readers for the long wait. But it's finally done, and you can all go on to another fic that I'm sure is MUCH better than mine.

Stay away from William over there. He's one of my role-playing characters. *clears throat* He's a little... disturbed... *watches William sing Jesse McCartney songs to himself and winces* It's worse than I thought...

Jareth: Well, it is about damn time.

Leanna: I quite agree, although the torturing you parts were fun.

JJ: Leanna is right. The rest of it sucked except the parts where Jarry over here is humiliated and embarrassed.

Sarah: *snickers* Did I raise my daughter right or did I raise my daughter right?

Toby: I think you raised your daughter right, Sarah.

Iris: Everyone, although LP isn't writing a third one, me and Toby get married and he becomes the heir to the throne of Scanra.

LP: All of you... you are dead until I write another Labyrinth story. Shut up, you are giving me a headache.

Leanna: Can't we at least take our bows?

LP: *sighs* Go ahead.

Everyone: *bows*

*Everything is silent*

LP: Finally. *collapses on bed and sleeps until Judgement Day*

And now, we come to the real reason I write these ridiculous stories. I love to write, but more than anything, I love to entertain people. And from what I've heard, you readers are for some reason entertained by my work. Makes no sense to me, but there ya go. I would like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers from _The Heir_ and _The Heir 2:Destiny_:

**_Viron_**

**_Crazy-Eyed Priestess_**

**_Kuroibara Kitty_**

**_Fae Keladrey_**

**_Kayli Amber_**

**_Astrophysics Rock_**

**_hazlgrnLizzy_**

**_imchoosinthisnamebecuaseican_**

**_notwritten_**

**_Team Guy of Gisborne_**

**_Gold Moon Wizard_**

**_lov2catnap_**

**_Princess of the Fae_**

**_Celestialdome_**

**_Kira the Blood Princess_**

**_CleverBast_**

**_Dragonfly2224_**

**_StarFace101_**

**_KLS82_**

**_Twistz of Doom_**

Sorry if I accidentally spelled your name wrong, and if I forgot someone, I am truly sorry. I love all of you guys for being eccentric enough to read my stories and not go "What, is this person crazy or somethin?" You guys really do brighten up my life every time you send a review. You always make me laugh, and I love you guys for it. So thank you very much. Just a heads up. In about a month after this story is updated, I shall be changing my name. Not sure what yet, but I will. So just a heads up.

Now, is that everyone- No wait, I almost forgot someone. *grins evilly*

Last, but most certainly not least (You've heard the phrase Save the Best for Last, haven't you?)... **_MIDNIGHT'S QUEEN!!!_** And I only put her in all caps because she was never just a reviewer. She is my best friend, the bestiest best friend I have ever had, and she deserves this honor. She has stuck with me through so many things, especially my very long and impossible writer's blocks. Among other more personal things. Everyone else who reviewed is special as well, and I love you all because you actually LIKE my stories, which is amazing in and of itself. But Midnight's Queen is like a sister to me... and if I ever hear that you are flaming one of her stories, you'd better sleep with one eye open.


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